Eating Bushmeat Improves Food Security in a Biodiversity and Infectious Disease “Hotspot”

In this study, we test the hypothesis that bushmeat improves food security in communities t hat hunt and trade bushmeat regularly. We conducted 478 interviews with men and women in six communities near Cross River National Park in Nigeria. We used interview responses to relate prevalence and diversity of bushmeat consumption to household food security status. Animal-based foods were the mo st commonly obtained items from the forest, and 48 types of wild vertebrate animals were consumed within the past 30 days. Seventy-five percent of households experienced some degree of food insecurity related to food access. Bushmeat consumption was significantly associated with relatively higher household food security status. Rodents were more important predictors of food security than other animal taxa. Despite increased bushmeat consumption in food-secure households, food-insecure households consumed a higher diversity of bushmeat species. Results show that consumption of bushmeat, espec ially rodents, is uniquely related to improved food security. Reliance on a wider diversity of species in food-insecure households may in turn affect their nutrition, exposures to reservoirs of zoonotic infections, and impact on wildlife conservation. Our results indicate that food security should b e addressed in conservation and public health strategies aimed at reducing human–wildlife contact, and that improved wildlife protection, when combined with alternative animal-based foods, would positivel...
Source: EcoHealth - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research