COMMERCIALISATION OF UNDER-UTILISED EDIBLE INSECTS IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA
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Date
2020-03
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UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN
Abstract
Under-utilised edible insects’ species have enormous potentials for entrepreneurial opportunities in
Nigeria. In addition, they provide an essential component of human diet for sustainable livelihood.
Formulating sound policies on harnessing the full potentials of under-utilised edible insects requires a
deep knowledge of their current commercialisation level. This study examined the extent of
commercialisation of under-utilised edible insects in Benue State. The objectives of the study were to:
(i) enumerate under-utilised edible insects harvested by the rural households in the study area; (ii)
determine the level of commercialisation of under-utilised edible insects among rural households; (iii)
examine factors affecting the extent of commercialisation of under-utilised edible insects; (iv) evaluate
the returns generated from the commercialisation of under-utilised edible insects; and (v) determine the
contribution of commercialisation of under-utilised edible insects to the livelihood status of rural
households.
The study was a cross sectional survey using two-stage sampling procedure. Primary data were obtained
from 156 rural households that were involved in the commercialisation of under-utilised edible insects
in Benue State. The data collection using a structured interview schedule started in August, 2018 and
ended in May, 2019. First stage of the sampling procedure involved the purposive selection of 5% out
of the 368 rural communities in Benue State. The second stage involved a snowball sampling of rural
households. Household Commercialisation Index, descriptive statistics, Tobit regression model,
marketing margin and Ordinary Least Square regression model were employed to analyse the data.
The findings of the study were that:
(i) the proportion of crickets, termites, caterpillars, grasshoppers and palm weevils harvested by the
rural households in the study area were 30.13%, 44.87%, 12.18%, 5.13% and 7.13%, respectively;
(ii) the majority (81%) of the rural households commercialised most of the under-utilised edible insects
harvested at 85.19%, 81.89%, 81.60%, 85.12%, and 85.92% extent of commercialisation for cricket,
termite, caterpillar, grasshopper and palm weevil respectively;
(iii) the factors affecting the extent of the commercialisation of under-utilised edible insects using Tobit
regression model were gender (p = 0.1), marital status (p = 0.05), years of schooling of household
head (p = 0.1), annual income (p = 0.01), and household size (p = 0.01);
(iv) a total of 138 kg of crickets, 104 kg of termites, 102 kg of caterpillars, 103 kg of grasshoppers and
122 kg of palm weevils were commercialised with the net returns of ₦47,931.00, ₦41,106.00,
₦40,461.00, ₦42,063.00 and ₦44,917.00 per season respectively; and
(v) commercialisation of under-utilised edible insects significantly enhanced the livelihood status of the
rural households (R2 = 67.4%). Other significant variables of the Ordinary Least Square regression
result were primary occupation of the household head (p = 0.1), distance of home to nearest village
market (p = 0.05), and amount of credit received by the household head (p = 0.05).
The study concluded that commercialisation of harvested under-utilised edible insects has positive
impact on the livelihood status of the rural households in the study area. The study rec
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Keywords
COMMERCIALISATION, UNDER-UTILISED, EDIBLE INSECTS, BENUE STATE