Profitability of grasshopper collection and trading in Uganda

Abstract

Grasshopper (Ruspolia differens) have been suggested as a highly valued edible insect in Africa but information on how profitable collecting /harvesting and marketing of grass hoppers is largely lacking. In Uganda profitability of grasshopper collection and trading was assessed basing on the cost of equipment used where the costs include the cost of renting which was Ugx.397106 and the cost of buying was Ugx.1576876. The price of grasshoppers both fresh and processed grasshoppers were analyzed where the processed was Ugx.9478 and fresh was Ugx.9478 and stata was used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics showed that 70% of the male are involved in the collection of grasshoppers and 29% of the female are involved in the collection of grasshoppers. and 60% 0f the male is involved in the marketing of grasshoppers while 19% of the female are involved in the marketing of grasshoppers which is significantly increased the trade of grasshoppers. Lastly the final results showed that as the grasshoppers were marketed the processed grasshoppers yield higher incomes compared to the fresh ones and the gross profit margin was 96% which showed that grasshopper collection and trading is highly profitable.