Africa’s lucrative, nutritious grasshopper business runs into Western prejudice against eating insects
Every morning in Wulari, a neighborhood of Maiduguri in Borno State, Nigeria, the air fills with the rich aroma of freshly fried grasshoppers. At a small roadside stand, Ayuba Naomi, 35, serves a steady stream of customers who arrive before the first batch is even ready. “Grasshoppers are widely eaten. Our customers have increased. We send to places like Abuja, Lagos, Kano and even to countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom,” she says. “When demand is high, especially from customers outside Maiduguri, we can sell around three sacks in a day,” she adds. Some of her buyers also come from neighboring Cameroon.
