A recent suggestion by the United Nations that people incorporate insects into their diet as an option for food security was met with some unease among Rwandans who still hold onto their cultural values.
A recent suggestion by the United Nations that people incorporate insects into their diet as an option for food security was met with some unease among Rwandans who still hold onto their cultural values.
Harvesting of grasshoppers in Rwanda has however increased, demonstrating that insects are increasingly becoming a delicacy among Rwandans. This tilt in cultural beliefs resonates with the suggestions in the UN report.
In its report, Edible Insects: Future Prospect for Food and Feed Security, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says that, contrary to popular belief, insects are not merely “famine foods” eaten in times of food scarcity or when purchasing and harvesting “conventional foods” becomes difficult.
Eating insects was taboo
Many people around the world eat insects out of choice—largely because of their palatability and established place in local food cultures.
However, the views expressed in the report did not go down well with cultural enthusiasts in Rwanda.
“There is no way Rwandans can eat those insects freely… possibly only in circumstances of serious food shortages, which I think might not happen soon,” Apollinaire Muvunanyambo, who is in his late 60s and was born and raised in Rwanda, said.
Mr Muvunanyambo added that while some Rwandans would eat insects during famine, especially following prolonged drought, eating insects was taboo.
He cited the period between 1897 and 1943 when the country was hit by food crisis, partly because of the irregular distribution of food, and people were forced to seek alternative means of survival.
It is during these hard times that some Rwandans would hide and eat insects such as locusts and grasshoppers.
Never eaten insects
Some of the young people we spoke to said they had never eaten insects.
“I have never tasted an insect; I even hate and fear them,” said Patience Kansiime, a student at the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) and a resident of Gikondo suburb of Kigali.
Emmy Muhire, a student at Mt Kenya University’s Kigali Campus, told Rwanda Today: “I don’t think eating insects is in the Rwandan setting because even the people who used to eat them were regarded as the most vulnerable in society.”
However much the UN filed reports and sensitised people to eat insects, it would take time for Rwandans to adapt and freely eat them, she said.
Others, such as Claude Habimana, saw no problem with eating insects.
“We used to eat them sometime back in the village but I no longer do,” said Mr Habimana. “I had no qualms about eating them; I actually don’t know why I quit.”
Eating insects, known as entomophagy, is popular across the world and has not solely been based on necessity but choice.
The report shows hunger as the top health risk, ahead of heart disease, cancer, war and other diseases. It says roughly 870 million people do not have enough to eat, and advocates a switch to insects as the next global food.
It explains that many insects are “rich in protein and good fats and high in calcium, iron and zinc” and suggests a variety of choices—various species of beetles, ants, crickets, larvae and caterpillars—that provide a notable alternative protein source for human populations accustomed to meat and vegetable dishes.
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It says switching to a diet heavier on insects could provide health, environmental and economic benefits.