Save a forest by fighting protein deficiency

We need a new approach! How do we know? While the SEPALI staff enjoys eating insects, the farmers we work with are not eager to integrate insects into their diets – why? We suspect that the newness of it all but a major issue is that the farmers we work with are more interested in earning money than improving the nutritional value of their food. As long as there is enough rice, they feel satisfied. Rice, of course, cannot provide all the nutrients that are needed by the human body – especially protein and iron. We had hoped that the money earned from silk farming would provide sufficient stimulus for farming insects, but we discovered that developing local markets for insect foods was going to be difficult with our current capacity.

 What to do? One of us (C.L. Craig) attended the International Congress of Entomology in Florida not only to report on the CPALI/SEPALI project, but also to learn about the efforts of others to introduce insects for food. In particular, we were searching for individuals who might help us. At the meeting, we meet two, Jarrod Goldin and Brian Fisher.

 Jarrod Goldin is one of the founders of Entomo Farms, a Canadian company that has established a successful insect farming operation and currently ships a variety of insect products including BBQ and honey mustard crickets, and Fire and Brimstone mealworms! They also produce cricket flour and even provide recipes for cricket blueberry crumble and cricket floured, deep-fried pickles. Although I am a vegetarian, I made an exception so I could personally attest to the deliciousness of Entomo Farm’s products – indeed they are tasty.

 Brian Fisher is founder of the California Academy of Sciences Biodiversity Center on the island. He has worked in Madagascar for over 18 years exploring the diverse habitats of insects and become committed to farming them to mitigating severe hunger. Brian is organizing two meetings in 2017, one to discuss where insect conservation measures are most needed and one to discuss where an insect farming operation is most needed.

 The role of CPALI/SEPALI has been to bring potential partners to the table and look for new team members including investors. We greatly appreciate our Global Giving donors that have allowed us to try to implement this project.  We haven't hit the right combination of approaches but we are determined to make commercial farming of endemic  insects for food a reality in Madagsacar. 

Thank you for your faith and support.

Links:

• Cal Academy and insect biodiversity
• Food for thought

It has been a hard summer for the SEPALI team and farmers. Rafanoely from Ambinentelo, one of our lead farmers, has been unable to walk due to a foot infection; Fenozara Justin is unable to travel to Bealananana to collect cocoons due to poor health. On top of all of that the weather has been bad – the winds were strong enough to capsize a boat in Antongil Bay that was filled with local people. All of this is a reminder of how difficult it can be for farmers and artisans to travel to Maroantsetra for team meetings and workshops.

Fortunately, help has arrived just in time. The team received a grant from the US Embassy to purchase electric sewing machines that they will convert into manual sewing machines. As a result, artisans will be able to use the machines in their villages where there is no electricity. We hope that having production local will encourage farmers to increase silkworm farming as we continue to look for new ways to introduce insects for food in the Maroantsetra area.

Of course it is much easier to expand interest in producing insects for food in areas where people have already discovered the deliciousness of silkworm pupae. Fortunately, Bealananana is one of those areas. The goal of the Bealananana program is to make sure that Ceranchia apollina silkworms are being collected sustainably. Ceranchia silk worms are the focus of SEPALI’s textile production program.

SEPALI would like to introduce farming the pupae but there is a catch - village elders will not allow the silkworm’s host plant to be planted because it is considered an agricultural pest. When the natural vegetation is destroyed for farming, the moths’ host plant is a “first responder” – it rapidly colonizes areas where trees have been cut.

In fact, the host plant also grows well in degraded sites some 5-10 years after deforestation.  The Talandoa tree, the host plant of the silkworm Antherina suraka raised in Maroantsetra, exhibited the same behavior. In fact, some Maroantsetra farmers used existing Talandoa trees to raise A. suraka larvae instead of planting them.  Perhaps with a little work, farmers in Bealananana could be convinced to raise C. appolina silkworms on existing host plants to increase silkworm pupae and cocoon yields. It almost looks like we have developed a replicable model!  We smell a new opportunity! Stay tuned!

Links:

• project website
• project market site