As well as our immediate response to severe food shortages in the Anosy region, we wanted to explore long-term approaches to food insecurity mitigation. As part of a larger project funded by The Darwin Initiative, Project Sakondry— together with conservation biologist Dr. Cortni Borgerson— will support local communities in Anosy to farm sakondry, a native planthopper. These bugs proved tricky to find at first, but they were no match for the SEED team who quickly found them in the bean plants they live on in Sainte Luce. This was a real ‘a-ha!’ moment as the insects are high in protein, (as well as bacon-flavoured, which is always a bonus!), which means that they could play a critical role in improving food security in the Anosy region. |