Abstract
While many important aspects of wild and farmed insects have been discussed by scholars, such as nutritional value, conservation and farming techniques, no study has addressed how insect farming contributes to rural livelihoods. Furthermore, the roles that interactions between insect farmers, their peers and institutions play in insect farming as a livelihood strategy are even less well understood. This paper presents a preliminary assessment of cricket farming as a livelihood strategy in Thailand. Fortynine cricket farmers participated in in-depth interviews designed to gain insight into how cricket farming contributes to rural livelihoods. This exploratory study investigates the following research questions: What are the characteristics of Thai cricket farmers and their farms? How do crickets contribute to the lives of rural farmers in Thailand? What role has social and human capital played in cricket farming communities? And what can be learned from the experience of cricket farming in Thailand? Findings suggest that cricket farming has improved the lives of many rural farmers in Thailand not only through the provision of an alternative income source, but through strengthening human and social capital. As such, further empirical data and case study analyses are needed in order to advance our understanding of this particular livelihood strategy.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Geographical Journal |
| Volume | 183 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 112-124 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| ISSN | 0016-7398 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2017 |
Keywords
- Edible insects
- Human capital
- Rural development
- Rural livelihoods
- Social capital
- Thailand