Fried or dried, frogs are popular food in African markets
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 7:54 pm
The demand for frogs for human consumption is rising dramatically in parts of West Africa, according to a paper published in the latest issue of the TRAFFIC Bulletin.
African tiger frogs caught with a basket trap in shallow parts of the River Niger, northern Benin. The small fish are used as bait.
“Dried or fried: amphibians in local and regional food market in West Africa” describes the frog trade in Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria, based on interviews with local fishermen, collectors, market traders and others involved in the trade, TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, said today.
Frog market in Lolo, northern Nigeria. Traders at the frog market in Lolo receive their frogs mainly from Benin and Niger. On average, five to ten sacks of frogs per trader were traded on one market-day–five traders traded between 36 and 39 sacks per week. From Lolo, the frogs are transported to the south of the country.
“In Burkina Faso, almost all frogs collected were consumed locally, with the African Tiger Frog Hoplobatrachus occipitalis the most frequently eaten species,” TRAFFIC said on its website.
“Frogs are usually sold to market traders who fry the specimens before sale. Villagers in the Ganzourgou region also eat toads, which are first skinned, beheaded, washed then dried to avoid the toxic skin secretions,” TRAFFIC added.
Highlights of the investigation:
In Benin and Nigeria, frogs are transported to south-west of Nigeria for sale. Thirtyt-two traders between them handled around 2.7 million frogs per year, most originating from the northern savannah regions of Nigeria and from neighbouring Benin, Chad and Niger.
In Malanville, Benin, frogs are collected exclusively for the Nigerian market. There, many fishermen have recently switched to catching frogs, not because of higher profits, but because frogs can be sold in batches, providing a lump sum of income–around U.S.$20 per sack. Increasing numbers of collectors from Nigeria are visiting the area to collect frogs. The authors accompanied a 30-strong team who between them caught around 450,000 (450 sackfuls) of frogs during a two-month stay in Malanville.
In Burkina Faso, frogs were often caught by hand or with nets, but in Benin, special frog traps are installed or torches are used to detect frogs at night from their eyeshine, before they are beaten on the head with a wooden stick.
“There are indications the trade in frogs is unsustainable in some regions,” TRAFFIC said. “In Burkina Faso, local people reported decreasing catches of frogs, although whether this is due to over-exploitation, habitat deterioration or other factors is unclear. There were similar reports from western Cameroon and eastern Nigeria, where even tadpoles are collected for food.”
While frogs are clearly an important food source in the region, currently there are no regulations in any West African country governing the harvest, TRAFFIC added.
“Frogs are important in biological control too: in India, where the processing and export of frogs was banned because of a rise in agricultural pests and mosquito numbers, frog populations have largely recovered to former levels and the import of insecticides has dropped by 40 percent.”
The authors suggest farming of large species, like the African Tiger Frog in West Africa, should be investigated–to protect wild populations and provide a source of local income. However, they caution about the potential drawbacks, such as loss of income to villagers not involved in farming, land use and pollution from farms and the potential disease and health risks.
Source
https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/201 ... n-markets/
African tiger frogs caught with a basket trap in shallow parts of the River Niger, northern Benin. The small fish are used as bait.
“Dried or fried: amphibians in local and regional food market in West Africa” describes the frog trade in Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria, based on interviews with local fishermen, collectors, market traders and others involved in the trade, TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, said today.
Frog market in Lolo, northern Nigeria. Traders at the frog market in Lolo receive their frogs mainly from Benin and Niger. On average, five to ten sacks of frogs per trader were traded on one market-day–five traders traded between 36 and 39 sacks per week. From Lolo, the frogs are transported to the south of the country.
“In Burkina Faso, almost all frogs collected were consumed locally, with the African Tiger Frog Hoplobatrachus occipitalis the most frequently eaten species,” TRAFFIC said on its website.
“Frogs are usually sold to market traders who fry the specimens before sale. Villagers in the Ganzourgou region also eat toads, which are first skinned, beheaded, washed then dried to avoid the toxic skin secretions,” TRAFFIC added.
Highlights of the investigation:
In Benin and Nigeria, frogs are transported to south-west of Nigeria for sale. Thirtyt-two traders between them handled around 2.7 million frogs per year, most originating from the northern savannah regions of Nigeria and from neighbouring Benin, Chad and Niger.
In Malanville, Benin, frogs are collected exclusively for the Nigerian market. There, many fishermen have recently switched to catching frogs, not because of higher profits, but because frogs can be sold in batches, providing a lump sum of income–around U.S.$20 per sack. Increasing numbers of collectors from Nigeria are visiting the area to collect frogs. The authors accompanied a 30-strong team who between them caught around 450,000 (450 sackfuls) of frogs during a two-month stay in Malanville.
In Burkina Faso, frogs were often caught by hand or with nets, but in Benin, special frog traps are installed or torches are used to detect frogs at night from their eyeshine, before they are beaten on the head with a wooden stick.
“There are indications the trade in frogs is unsustainable in some regions,” TRAFFIC said. “In Burkina Faso, local people reported decreasing catches of frogs, although whether this is due to over-exploitation, habitat deterioration or other factors is unclear. There were similar reports from western Cameroon and eastern Nigeria, where even tadpoles are collected for food.”
While frogs are clearly an important food source in the region, currently there are no regulations in any West African country governing the harvest, TRAFFIC added.
“Frogs are important in biological control too: in India, where the processing and export of frogs was banned because of a rise in agricultural pests and mosquito numbers, frog populations have largely recovered to former levels and the import of insecticides has dropped by 40 percent.”
The authors suggest farming of large species, like the African Tiger Frog in West Africa, should be investigated–to protect wild populations and provide a source of local income. However, they caution about the potential drawbacks, such as loss of income to villagers not involved in farming, land use and pollution from farms and the potential disease and health risks.
Source
https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/201 ... n-markets/