I
have always known Ugandans as very hospitable, usually demonstrated in their
eager to share meals with uninvited visitors, but this narrative has changed
now that the food involves grasshoppers. Ugandans have really found these
insects a delicacy. Now that November is here, I am seeing people’s appetites
on an accelerating trend.
Wondering what exactly was about
these nsects, that is limiting us from getting invitations for meals, i discovered
that majority of traders harvesting theses insects are making a killing in just
one season. on average, these guys
generated over Uganda shillings 400,000 (≈ US $ 223.5) ,money they use to pay school fees for their children and dependants,
and to buy basic household items according to a study made by researchers from Makerere
in 2008.A sack of R. nitidula retailed
between Uganda shillings 50,000 (US $28) and 100,000 (US $56) depending
on the size of the bag then. The average retail price paid for them now goes for US $3.0 per
kilogram, which compares favourably with that of beef, which retails at
approximately US $3 per kg in Kampala.
Brief history about these delicious insects stemmed
from the time when the price of coffee beans plummeted.The farmers in masaka started
looking for a new way of earning a living. What they found was an untapped
market for both fresh and fried grasshoppers (R. nitidula). Similarly in Congo (Brazzaville), it was reported that
grasshoppers and other Orthoptera are also sold in the markets, allowing people
from rural areas to use these insects as a "cash crop"
Ssenyonga Ibra ,a
coffee farmer testified that the grasshopper business protected their
families from poverty when coffee prices hit rock bottom. More
importantly, he noted that, it allowed them more control over their
future. “The profits that you get from the grasshopper business
are unbeatable compared to those of coffee because, with grasshoppers, you don’t
compete on the world market we decide the prices
ourselves”.
More Interestingly,
over 70 percent of the revenue
collected by market
officials in dues charged to venders, especially during the April-June
and November-December seasons accrued
from grasshopper sales. The Ugandan electrical
company also normally charges
“professional” R. nitidula collectors about
300,000 shillings (~US $170) for the month of constant nighttime electricity. There is no doubt these insects are of
economic benefit
Apart from boiling
them, eating them raw, sun-drying them, frying and flavouring them with onions
and salt, or using them to make a soup, you can make money from them and get
yourself out of poverty. Don’t say i dint tell you!
Happy november
by
Emmanuel Nambaale
Economic Hub Uganda ltd
P.O Box 1337, Kampala- Uganda | Tel +256779373114/+256703744999 |
Email:economichubuganda@gmail.com|enambaale@gmail.com;
facebook;emmanuelnambaale|twitter.@enambaale_|watsapp;0701452142
No comments:
Post a Comment