Fried crickets: New delicacy earning farmers a decent living

By NAFTAL MAKORI

If you thought crickets were just insects, you are wrong. They are a delicacy enjoyed both in Kenya and Uganda.

William Moto of Wangchieng location in Homa Bay County has been rearing crickets for the last eight months after one month of training at Bondo University College.

The ‘hop and jump’ insects are touted as a significant source of protein that would address malnutrition, especially among children.

A huge sense of optimism is drawn on Moto’s face as he explains how to rear these insects that many might consider worthless.

In Kakang’uti village within Wangchieng location, at least 20 farmers are engaged in cricket farming.

They have found a ready market at a hotel in Kisumu but the demand is also high in Uganda.

“Some of the crickets are even exported to the United States but as a group of farmers, we want to produce enough and market them locally. We wish to encourage locals to start consuming crickets. They are delicious and highly nutritious,” Moto explains.

He says unlike crop farming, rearing crickets is much easier. “Only a small space is required and some skill to feed them and keep them alive,” he says. In a small room (barely 4ft by 6ft), several buckets have been laid out, each covered with a piece of white netting.

This covering helps keep the insects intact and protect them from predators like ants and rats.

PERFECT HIDEOUT

Inside the buckets, the farmer has strategically positioned egg trays, which provide the perfect hideout for the crickets, and on the bottom of the buckets is flour that the insects feed on.

Some fresh leaves of sukuma wiki (kale) have also been provided. The insects also require water, which is sprayed on the vegetation they eat.

“I chose to rear crickets because it is easy. Little space is required, the demand is huge and I expect very big profits,” says Moto.

After training, he built the special structure (with polythene covering the walls and floor for purposes of maintaining the temperature, and transparent roofing to allow sunlight into the structure) and was ready to start his new venture.

He keeps a thermometer inside the structure to ensure temperatures are maintained at around 35 degrees Celsius. Very high temperatures would kill the insects while optimal temperatures encourage hatching of more eggs. He has more than ten buckets, with each holding about 10,000 crickets.

Each bucket has crickets in different stages of growth. Mature crickets lay eggs that hatch within a few days. By one and half months, the insects can lay eggs, continuing the cycle.

“We sell 250g of crickets at Sh700. Harvesting is strictly timed because the insects have a short lifespan – they die after six months. One can also sell the eggs at Sh300 per dish, which contains about 220 eggs,” he explains.

Only mature crickets can be harvested, fried in a pan and consumed or packed, ready for the market. The harvested crickets are first dipped in hot water before being placed in the pan for dry frying.

Moto’s wife, Hellen Akoth, usually fries a few of the insectsfor the family’s consumption. She says crickets are very palatable and advises more farmers to rear them. She belongs to Saoke Anisa Women’s Group, which has been training locals in the business.

John Orimba, 70, is among the farmers who have learnt the trade from Moto. He has embraced it and says he will not look back.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says insects are one major and readily available source of nutritious and protein-rich food. It is estimated that insects form part of the traditional diets of at least two billion people.

Insect gathering and farming could offer employment and cash income at the household level but also potentially in industrial operations, notes FAO.

There over a million known insect species. Insects account for more than half of all living organisms on earth.

According to the FAO research conducted in partnership with Wageningen University in the Netherlands dubbed Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security, over 1,900 insect species are consumed by humans worldwide. Globally, the most consumed insects are beetles (31 per cent); caterpillars (18 per cent); bees, wasps and ants (14 per cent); and grasshoppers, locusts and crickets (13 per cent). Many insects are rich in protein, good fats, calcium, iron and zinc.