We examined the socio‑cultural practices on the use of beetle grubs as food and feed in western Kenya
by interviewing 211 randomly selected households and conducting seven focus group discussions in
Bungoma, Kakamega, Busia, and Trans Nzoia counties. The grubs were used as food and feed in ~ 39%
and 78% of the households, respectively. The perceived benefits of the grubs for human consumption
were nutritiousness and no linkage to allergies. The grubs were perceived to enhance animal weight
gain and increase poultry egg laying. They were also perceived to recycle nutrients from organic
waste, and clean the environment. Toasting and roasting were the dominant methods of preparing
the grubs. Lack of knowledge on the grub nutritional benefits and stigma were key deterrents to their
consumption. About 66% of the respondents expressed willingness to farm the grubs if the market
and rearing protocols are available. Almost 98% of the respondents lacked knowledge of the beetle
biology, indicating limited capacity to conserve them. The practices on the use of beetle grubs as food
and feed differed across counties and by gender, age, marital status and education level. Strategies
for sustainable use of the grubs as food and feed have been proposed and new research directions
highlighted.The use of edible insects as part of the global food security strategy is increasingly becoming popular. About
2000 species of insects are consumed globally, ~ 500 of them in Africa, and ~ 17 in Kenya 1, 2 . Members of the
order Coleoptera, commonly called beetles, account for 31% of insect species consumed worldwide 2 . These
insects are mainly consumed during their larval stage, commonly called grubs. Most edible beetle larvae thrive
on decomposing organic waste. Beetle grubs are rich in nutrients like protein (40.7%), fat (33.4%), energy
(490.3 kcal/100 g), minerals (notably, calcium, magnesium and iron), vitamins (A, C and B 1, 2, 3 and 5) and
essential amino and fatty acids 3, 4. There is less wastage in consuming grubs than other livestock because they are
consumed in their entirety once degutted, unlike 40–50% consumable portions of other livestock such as cattle,
pigs and checken 3 . Insects require significantly less land, water, and feed, and release insignificant amounts of
greenhouse gases compared to conventional livestock like cattle 3, 5, 6 . Adult beetles and their larvae are readily
available in farmyard compost among the resource-limited rural animal keepers7, 8. The availability of the beetles
in the community provides a wild source of start-up breeding stock for sustainable captive rearing as a source
of food and feed for the future. Captive rearing as an alternative to aggressive harvesting of natural populations
of the larvae could preserve them and sustain their ecological roles.
Ecologically, most beetle grubs contribute greatly to nutrient recycling through the decomposition of organic
matter, parasite suppression, secondary seed dispersal and increased air permeability of the soils 8–11 . The pres-
ence of diverse gut microbes like fungi and bacteria in coprophagous beetles enhances their metabolic activity
to reduce the complex components in the dung into simple organic components that are easily available for plant
uptake 12 . Many adult beetles on the other hand are important crop pollinators thereby contributing immensely
to increased crop productivity. For instance, scarabid beetles are important (and often obligate) pollinators of
decay-scented flowers in the families Araceae and Lowiacea 9 . On the flipside, some beetles are notorious crop
and animal pests, although their harvest for consumption is being advocated as a strategy for sustainably man-
aging them 13, 14 .According to Kusia et al. 15, beetle grubs are the fifth most consumed insects in Kenya after termites, grasshop-
pers, saturniids and crickets. However, the report by these authors indicates that consumption of beetle grubs is
restricted to communities in western Kenya, which may be a result of cultural differences across regions. A more. Access full text
