Farming and Economics
The harvesting and sale of mopane worms is a multi-million rand industry in southern Africa.6 The principal producers are Botswana, Namibia, South Africa (Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga) and Zimbabwe. Typically, the caterpillars are not domesticated, and are picked wherever they occur naturally. It is one of the region's most economically important insects. In the 1990s, hundreds of tons were exported from Botswana and South Africa each year. 7 It is estimated that South Africa alone trades 1.6 million kilogrammes of mopane worm annually, 8 and that Botswana's involvement in this industry nets it roughly $8 million annually. 11
Mopane worms are considered to be a profitable harvest, as a mere 3 kilogramme of feed (mopane leaves) will generally yield 1 kilogramme of mopane worms: in contrast, cattle farming requires 10 kilogrammes of feed to generate 1 kilogramme of beef; thus the worms are a low-cost, low-maintenance, high-protein foodsource.8
Read more about this topic: Gonimbrasia Belina
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