Project Description

---

---

Want to know more? here we go!What are our objectives?The objective lies in understanding the potential of entomophagy (i.e. the consumption of insects) to provide an environmentally sustainable solution to malnutrition for communities with low protein intake.What is the Importance of edible insects? Edible insects generally offer higher or similar nutritional quality compared to other forms of livestock, but have a lower consumption of energy and natural resources, a higher fecundity and a much faster growth rate. In contrast, livestock production, including feed-crop production, occupies 70% of the world’s agricultural land, and consumes 77 million tonnes of plant or animal protein to produce just 58 million tonnes of protein for human consumption annually. Low protein intake is one of the main causes of malnutrition which severely restrain a healthy development. Hence, in a world were resources are becoming scare and population is growing, entomophagy is an option which deserves urgent global attention. What our project consists in?Our project will take place in the North of Benin. We will be working with the Wama community to understand how they traditionally gather, sell, cook and consume insects. We will carry out an environmental assessment to understand the ecological implications of this method. In addition, to avoid the risk of over-exploiting natural stocks of edible insects in the case of the expansion of this practice, we shall devise methods for insect breeding that can be applied locally and in other communities.Who's in the team?Our team members are Laura, Rudi and Mariangela. For those who don't know these lovely people, Laura is the project leader and initiator of this expedition. Her and Rudi are true insect lovers, and have been studying them throughout the years as part of Evolutionary Biology and Integrated Pest Management. They are in charge of the scientific aspects of the project. Mariangela is all about International Development, Economics and recently Environmetal and Sustainable Planning. For this project, she will focus on the interpersonal, community and developmental aspects of entomophagy, and prospects for further development projects.How YOU can help!We are currently seeking grants and fundraising for the project. If you would wish to support our wonderful initiative and help us further our plans for the expedition, you can contribute to making our budget add up! Just follow the link here below to enter your donation- there is no minimum sum so feel free to put which ever sum you want.We will be extremely grateful for your contribution! Watch out for news and updates about our project to follow how we progress.Thank you from all the insect loving team.Bugs Regards,Laura, Rudi, MariangelaDONATION LINK ---> https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=mv.mveronesi%40gmail.com&lc=US&item_name=Edible+Insects+Benin&item_number=BugsforLife¤cy_code=GBP&bn=PP-DonationsBF%3Abtn_donateCC_LG.gif%3ANonHosted

---