Ethnoentomology: socio-cultural aspects of the acceptability of insects as food by the urban population of Brazzaville city in Republic of the Congo

Abstract

The present article addresses an aspect of entomophagy for the current urban population of Brazzaville city, capital of the Republic of the Congo. It recalls, firstly, the interest in entomophagy, which was emphasised by the FAO in 2013. Concerning the Brazzaville city, cultural and religious practices of the current inhabitants attract attention and have in particular been analysed, as well as their sociodemographic and dietary characteristics. Caterpillars, orthopterans, termites and beetle larvae were discussed in particular. In this study, the questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The results showed that the acceptability or not of insects as food by the non-native populations of Brazzaville depends on their country of origin, their ethnicity and their length of residence (p<0.001). Insect consumption is highly positively correlated with the presence of preferred insects from the country of origin on the market (r=0.837; p<0.001). There is a very significant negative correlation between the number of years of residence in Brazzaville and the consumption of insects by non-native populations (r=-0.306; p<0.001). People who consumed insects in their country of origin either maintained the habit of insects’ consumption (59.50%), or lost this habit (13.90%). The others (3.00%) who do not consume insects in their region have integrated entomophagy into their eating habits following cultural contact with entomophagous populations. Therefore, cultural contact has a negative or positive influence on entomophagy.