Harvesting

Harvesting of the mopane worm lasts for about three weeks (the exact date being dependant on rainfall). In southern Africa there is usually one main harvest per year but with good rains a small second harvest can occur in April or May. Harvesting, mostly by women, is done by shaking the mopane trees or by cutting infested branches. The caterpillars are then eviscerated, boiled and dried in the sun, after which they can last nearly a year, until the next harvest - if it comes. Thus, the consumption of mopane worms can occur over a considerably longer period than the harvest - that is, mopane worms should not be thought of as perishable goods.

Dried mopane worms bought in a shop in Pietersburg. Photo. M. Mushongohande.

Dried mopane worms on sale in Thohoyandou market. Click on the picture to see a larger version. Photo. M. McGeogh.

Contribution to livelihoods

Traditionally, the mopane worm has been harvested for own use by rural households (Ashipala et al. 1996). There are suggestions that it has made quite a significant contribution to rural diets, though sometimes this is difficult to disentangle this from the general contribution made to nutrition by small, unusual wild foods. Although there has actually been no proper economic quantification and valuation of the mopane worm resource to household economies in any southern African country, researchers agree that it contributes greatly to the incomes of the rural poor in mopane veld regions. There is much better quantitative evidence on the significance of the supply and trading of mopane worms. One study in South Africa found harvesters earning US$715 during the seven-week harvest period, with up to 600 women recorded as harvesting from one area of C. mopane woodland. In Botswana, the mopane worm harvest in a good year is estimated to be worth US$3.3 million, providing employment to 10,000 people (Styles 1995). These figures indicate a significant and under-appreciated business. However, it is not known whether these values are achieved year on year, or whether mopane worm trading is highly variable from year-to-year. Also, there is little information on the structure of the market chain, or calculation of where value-added is created in that chain. These are clearly important questions that need answering when it comes to planning potential enhancements of the industry for rural dwellers.

Increasing commercialisation and diminishing supply?

Mopane worms are generally harvested from communal woodlands. As a consequence of the good returns associated with mopane worm supply and trading, and the fact that outbreaks occur in different areas from year to year, it is now common to find people moving around by motorised transport to harvest mopane worms for commercial purposes (Ashipala et al. 1996). This increased harvesting pressure may be causing problems. In the past, it was customary for outsiders to an area to ask the traditional leader's permission to collect mopane worms. However, there was usually no limit placed on collection. Nowadays, it appears that outsiders are less likely to ask for permission to collect, instead just turning up and stripping the resource. In return, local communities are attempting to impose rules on worm collection, but in the context of a management system where these have never existed before, and where little is known about scientific management of mopane generally (Timberlake 1996). Local farmers also argue that outsiders harvest the resource unsustainably, cutting large branches and trees to access the worms, not waiting for the caterpillars to grow larger before harvesting them, and not leaving some caterpillars to bury into the ground to preserve a future supply.

Carrying a sack of dried mopane worms through Thohoyandou market. Click on the picture to see a larger version. Photo. M. McGeogh.