The "Chitoumou dilemna"

In the Sudano-sahelian zone, the edible caterpillar Cirina butyrospermi/forda is harvested widely from both wild and cultivated areas. Its abundance is partly due to its food preference: the shea tree. It does not appear to cause damage to shea fruit production, though evidence for this is not conclusive. The caterpillar is sold in rural and urban markets, but recently in Burkina Faso a company has responded to urban demand by processing and packaging the caterpillars in a way more palatable to the high end consumer, and distributing these in supermarkets at a high price. This strategy could generate additional income for the collectors of the caterpillars...the following soon during the  Fourth World Congress on Agroforestry