Entomological biodiversity as a food in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Exploitation of non-timber forest products, including edible insects, plays an important role in food habits and local economies of indigenous people of Congo. Entomophagy has been a tradition in the Republic Democratic of Congo (RDC) for centuries; however, a complete inventory of species that consumed is not available. Thus, rigorous taxonomic identification and precise characterization of entomophagy in this region is required. The current study focused on Kinshasa, the capital city of the RDC. We inventoried 14 edible species that are regularly consumed. These species belong, respectively and by degree of importance, to the Lepidoptera (46.7%), Isoptera (18.6%), Orthoptera (17.6%), Coleoptera (9.7%), and Hymenoptera (3.7%) orders. In general, 80% of the Kinshasa human population consumes at least one species of insects 5 days per month, with 66.4 to 154 g insects being consumed per person per day, depending on insect order. Interestingly mostly women developed edible insects business. The income generated by this activity contributes to the well-being of households, which helps reduce poverty and food insecurity in the capital city of Kinshasa.