The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Chiang Mai University are conducting a workshop in Thailand about insect consumption, collection, harvest, processing and marketing.

The workshop aims to impart to forest managers the knowledge on insects and insect management possessed by traditional forest dwellers and forest-dependent people. It also aims to provide income and jobs in rural areas for people who capture, rear, process, transport and market edible insects.

According to Patrick Durst, senior FAO forestry officer, although most edible insects are harvested from natural forests, very little is known about their life cycles, population dynamics and commercial and management.

Durst added, "Opportunities also exist for improved packaging and marketing to make edible insects more enticing to traditional buyers and to expand the market to new consumers, especially in urban areas."

FAO says that at least 527 different insects are eaten across 36 countries in Africa, 29 countries in Asia and 23 nations in the Americas. In Thailand, almost 200 different insect species are eaten, and vendors selling insects are a common sight throughout the country.

Beetles, ants, bees, grasshoppers and crickets are some of the most widely enjoyed of the over 1,400 insect species eaten by humans worldwide.