Hopping Away from Malnutrition in Madagascar

The perfect six-legged bite

Andrianjaka Ravelomanana (2nd from right) describes how crickets are bred and grown, in the clear plastic hatchery container and large black metal ‘cricket condos’ to staff from USAID/ Madagascar and the PEER implementing partner, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, as his students look on. / Brent Wells for USAID

The once-every-17-year cicada hatching cycle inundating life along the United States’ East Coast this year is something one researcher is trying to reproduce in Madagascar with crickets — every day — to fight malnutrition.

One-third of Malagasy households lack adequate food at any given time and nearly half of children are malnourished. Families cannot access affordable protein-rich foods and are forbidden from hunting the unique animal biodiversity endemic to the island.

The practice of eating insects, known as entomophagy, is a centuries-old custom in the island-nation of Madagascar. Confirming that occasional entomophagy continues today throughout rural Madagascar is a significant result of scientist Andrianjaka Ravelomanana’s research, funded by USAID’s Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) program. Findings from his research confirm that his efforts to commercialize cricket protein for mass consumption has great promise.

The practice of eating insects like this cricket is a centuries-old custom in Madagascar. / USAID

Farming insects for protein provides a cheap alternative to livestock. Crickets contain two to three times more protein per pound than other livestock while containing more vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They also require significantly less land, water, and feed to produce the same amount of protein and emit much less carbon dioxide and methane, making it one of the most environmentally friendly choices for mitigating climate change associated with food production.

Putting Research Where Your Mouth Is

Nearly 90 percent of Malagasy animal species are endemic and part of a delicately balanced ecosystem. Introducing non-native species can compromise that. Andrianjaka embarked on a search for the perfect six-legged bite, settling on a cricket species native to the Madagascar highlands.

Researcher Andrianjaka Ravelomanana’s work is supported by USAID. / USAID

To work, he would need to scale production for a large population.

Started in 2017, a three-year PEER research grant allowed his lab to expand rapidly. Andrianjaka went from supporting 50 crickets — originally collected by neighborhood children with a picture to guide them — to a colony of over one million, with 100,000 new crickets (totaling 300 pounds) added weekly.

Getting millions of legs and feet to tables is no easy feat.

This colony of crickets in Madagascar is helping research into nutrition. / USAID

Andrianjaka’s lab, in partnership with Brian Fisher of the California Academy of Sciences, spent a year testing each variable in their 6 foot by 3 foot by 3 foot ‘cricket condos’ and egg hatcheries used to grow crickets. These conditions include humidity, drinking water, bedding, temperature, feed type, lighting, and population density.

Fisher, who is also an entomologist, is an essential collaborator in this work, providing his expertise on many project elements. U.S.-international research partnerships are a hallmark of the PEER program and a component to the success of many projects.

Distributing the Science: Building Partnerships to Fight Malnutrition

After perfecting the growing conditions, there was the matter of making crickets into an appealing meal. Drying, grinding, storage, and even flavoring whole crickets needed to be tested in the lab and taste-tested by the public. That is where a partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) blossomed.

Andrianjaka describes the benefits of entomophagy to children during a presentation at an after school program co-hosted by CRS. Presentations are often followed by an opportunity to taste the different cricket recipes the research team has been developing. / Brent Wells for USAID

CRS, which sponsors an afterschool program in Antananarivo, expressed interest in adding needed protein into snacks for the children. Seeing the connection, Andrianjaka visited the afterschool program and introduced the children to powdered and whole crickets — plain, salted, or flavored with honey — and spoke about the benefits of entomophagy, encouraging them to sample the crickets.

After an initial reluctance, almost every child happily gobbled down whole crickets and powder mixed into yogurt or porridge.

People attest to the powdered form of these crickets tasting like chocolate, making a cold yogurt and cricket parfait taste just like cookies and cream ice cream.

Left: Preparing a snack for children in an afterschool program. Center: A protein powered meal includes cricket powder served in various forms including lacquered (coated with honey) crickets served with lemons, yogurt with cricket powder mixed in, and crickets with green and red peppers and cheese. Right: Single servings of yogurt with cricket powder. / Brent Wells for USAID

CRS now buys 220 pounds of cricket powder from Andrianjanka’s lab each year for the afterschool program. The group also purchased another 220 pounds recently to deliver to southern Madagascar to supplement the diets of tuberculosis patients living in severe drought conditions. Preliminary studies have shown that supplementing the diets of these patients with cricket protein has led to an average weight gain of 9 pounds in two months.

The farmed crickets meet food safety standards and are approved for commercial sale by the Malagasy Ministry of Public Health. As with other foods, it is important for families to know they are eating insects raised on pesticide-free vegetation.

Crickets contain two to three times more protein per pound than other livestock while containing more vitamins, minerals, and fiber, making them a healthy and sustainable option to fight malnutrition. / USAID

Says Andrianjaka: “Our progress demonstrates the mastery of the technique for farming associated with strong collaborations with international partners. This was key to our success. In the coming years, with the future extension of the farm facility, thousands of Malagasy people can have access to our product every day.”

The team continues to ramp up production and optimize the process. To make cricket powder more widely available, they will need a lot more of it.

Thanks to the long-term funding and partnership opportunities provided by the PEER program, Andrianjaka is closer than ever to turning that hopping, six-legged stranger into a familiar mainstay on plates across the island; one that will boost nourishment of the people, of the environment, of the economy, and of Madagascar.

About the Author

Brent Wells is a Program and Policy Advisor to the USAID Innovation Technology Research Hub/Research Division’s Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research program where he manages the sub-Saharan Africa portfolio.