Evaluating the safety and nutritional quality of a novel insect based food product in Benin

Insects represent a vast but underexploited food resource. They have a global distribution and are amongst the most abundant animals in the world. Recent evaluations of their nutritional quality have also shown many of them to be comparable or superior as a source of nutrition to many of our current livestock animals.

Although not widely used in European societies, insects are already traditionally consumed in two thirds of countries worldwide, with over 2000 species being eaten around the globe. As a widespread resource that can be collected without cultivation, the sustainable harvesting and preservation of insects offer solutions to food security problems, particularly in impoverished communities within developing world nations. Whilst this potential has been realised in some places (e.g. mopane worm in South Africa), insects have been underutilized in many areas where food security is poor.

Our project will address food security issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many areas, such as the region of Benin where we work, experience seasonal food shortages. These arise as a consequence of extended dry seasons when crops will not grow. Limited development of food storage and preservation at the community level compounds this problem, as periods of plenty cannot be used to improve food security in famine times.
This project aims to bridge this food security challenge through developing termites as a sustainable and locally available food source. Each year, a single termite mound will produce thousands of winged individuals which will disperse from the mound, and can be collected locally. These termites, which are already eaten traditionally in the region by some communities, are highly nutritious. They are naturally 'overproduced' - of the thousands who fly from a mound, 99% are eaten by birds or reptiles. As such, alate termites offer great prospects as a sustainable food product.

We will assess the efficacy of different methods for the collection of termites, and combine this with an assessment of the total potential yield of termites regionally to determine the magnitude of natural capital represented in alate termites. We will then improve harvesting techniques, and develop preservation techniques that allow the product to be traded commercially/used locally over famine periods. Together, these data and techniques will allow us to determine the value-chain of a termite based food product. Within community use and local marketability will be examined as two means of maintaining nutrition through famine periods.

Our project will work in collaboration with communities in Northern Benin, and supply them with the direct means to enhance food security using termites as a food product. In doing so, combining existing regional traditions of eating insects with modern advances in food preservation and production, food security can be targeted using an entirely local approach.

The project aims further to be a proof of concept to establish more widespread use of termite as a food source across sub Saharan Africa.

Insects are a widespread food source that can contribute to food security in regions where agricultural production is limited. This multidisciplinary project (ecology, food science and socioeconomics) will develop alate (winged) sexual termites as a community produced preserved food for use during periods of chronic food shortage.

We will perform three tasks:
i) Evaluating the natural capital of termites: Yields of alate termites from individual mounds will be assessed through capture. We will then estimate landscape yields by combining these data with mound density acquired through satellite and drone images to provide the first estimate of termites as natural capital at community and landscape levels. We will also optimize termite collection using solar light trapping, using materials and methods that are acceptable and co-designed with communities.

ii) Developing means of preparation and preservation: Preparation and preservation technologies for termites will be developed in the communities, ensuring simplicity and affordability (drying, grinding, and desiccated storage). We will deliver state of the art nutritional analysis of preserved termites including LC-MS and GC-MS metabolomics approaches, and biosafety analysis (bacterial contamination - qPCR;mycotoxin risk - quantitative ELISA). This quality assurance then enables both local use and marketing of the product.

iii) Community engagement and resource use: Community views towards, and active engagement in developing termites as a food source are central to this project. Traditional use of termites will be examined alongside simple collection and preservation techniques. Cost benefit analysis of harvesting and processing termites will be performed in the context of other community activities. Use of termites within the community and their potential value in the local market will be assessed.

Finally, the system developed will be promoted for uptake more widely across Sub Saharan Africa.

This project is designed to drive impacts at multiple levels from local community driven enterprise and food production, through to a building a multinational and multidisciplinary collaboration framework that will facilitate further international expansion in the use of preserved insects as a means to deliver food security.

1) Benefit to local communities in Benin
The food security and socio-economic well-being of communities in Northern Benin are the central focus of this project. By evaluating and developing termite-based food production, this project is nurturing local production of food that can address food security at a time of year when there is chronic food shortage. Examining the value chain surrounding these food products can also stimulate the development of local business. In particular, the cross-disciplinary nature of our program is providing both the means to develop a novel value chain for termite based food products and interactively educate and work with local stakeholders to maximise the local benefit.

2) Wider benefit to countries across sub-Saharan Africa
Development of the termite preservation and value chain in Benin will act as an exemplar case for sub-Saharan Africa, and thus represents the first step towards broader development of a rigorous and reliable local food product in a part of the world where there are chronic annual food shortages that are projected to become more severe in the future.

3) Benefit to Institutions and science within Benin
Food security is a global challenge that requires collaboration at the international level. This project will establish a collaborative framework between the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, The University of Liverpool, and the Swedish University of Agricultural sciences (SLU). These links will help a) strengthen internally driven food production initiatives in Benin b) develop a rigorous risk assessment approach to assessing termite food products and c) create a strong network from which to expand the development of insect food products. In particular, SLU bring a track record of excellence in the risk-assessment of food products and the University of Liverpool have a strong track record in both insect-microbe interactions and the environmental evaluation of social insects.

4) Benefit to research institutions and science in the UK
The science and industry of insects as food and feed is projected to grow rapidly. Mass-rearing of insects is emerging at industrial scales and legislation surrounding insect products within the EU and worldwide is currently under review. This project combines insect food production with assessment of the associated risks and benefits. High level training of professionals in food science and preservation (with partners in Sweden) will provide Liverpool scientists with excellent skills in this emerging field. In addition, improving our understanding of both the risk-assessment of insect food production and examining the socio-economic aspects of food security are internationally relevant skills.