Résumé
Food security and health are major objectives for developing countries where populations live on low incomes. The aim is to contribute to the assessment of indigenous knowledge on food, traditional medicine, taboos and superstitions related to insects in southern Cameroon. Three hundred and forty-one villagers were interviewed individually using the rapid rural appraisal method in semi-structured survey form. All villagers acknowledged having consumed insects or insect products. The most commonly consumed were honey from bees (90.6%), termites (75.4%), caterpillars (59.8%), beetles (48.9%), bushcrickets (24.3%), and grasshoppers (23.2%). Insect bodies were generally consumed fried or braised. Forty-one percent (41.1%) of people reported using insects or insect products for at least first health care. Honey from bees (20.2%), ants (12.1%), and grasshoppers (10.8%) were most commonly used to treat diseases such as coughs, malaria fever, burns, stomach aches, high blood pressure, asthma, rheumatism, male impotence, or wounds. Nineteen percent (19.1%) of people associate insects with a taboo or superstition. Of these insects, ants, bees, and caterpillars reflect misfortune, disease, and misery, or an abundance of food. Seventeen percent (17.6%) of the respondents said that bees (4.4%), cockroaches (4.1%), bushcrickets (2.9%), ants (2.6%), and grasshoppers (2.3%) can be used as protection, for witchcraft, poisoning, charms, or gifts in the wedding dowry. In all divisions studied, we found statistically significant differences in the use of insects as food or medicine. The study shows that, as in other parts of Africa, insects are used in a variety of ways in the southern plateau of Cameroon. It is important to continue to identify, understand and develop this knowledge as a possible or partial source of solutions for the well-being of the populations.