Determinants of the use of insects as food among undergraduates in south-western community of Nigeria

Abstract

Though insects have been part of African diets since ancient times due to their nutritional benefits, consumption of insects remains unpopular among some literate Nigerians. This study examined the knowledge and determinants of the use of insects as food among undergraduates in three south-western Nigerian universities, using 600 structured questionnaires. About 53% of the respondents have never eaten insects, while most respondents identified grasshopper (82.3%) and cockroaches (88.7%) as animal feed but not human diet. About 70% and 67% associated eating of cricket and termites, respectively to both human and animals. Factors that encouraged entomophagy include the awareness of insects as good sources of protein, the influence of family members who eat insects and the awareness of the medicinal values of insects. The major constraints to entomophagy were ignorance of the nutritive values of insects which accounted for 34.0% of the respondents and personal hatred for insect species (28.7%), stigmatization against those who eat insects (27.0%) and poor hygiene of those who process insects into food (23.0%). Age and value addition processing methods positively influenced insect consumption. Lack of money to buy other animal protein and meat type will cause the respondents to embrace entomophagy. Creating awareness on the benefits of edible insects will increase the practice of entomophagy and encourage more people to engage in insect farming.