Weaver ants to help African farms yield fruit
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BREEDING
While the nutritional side of the program is appealing, it remains to be seen how African farmers get along with this new biological tool.
The weaver ant construct nests by weaving together leaves and their colonies can be extremely large containing millions of ants spanning up to one hectare. It is an aggressive species that is known for its hard bite,making it very difficult for fruit growers to collect from the wild.
But in early 2010, a research team at Aarhus University discovered how to breed weaver ants in nurseries, giving farmers a safer means to obtain these insects.
The team hopes to build ant nurseries that farmers can buy entire colonies of ants to transplant to their fruit plantations. Over time, farmers may themselves become ant breeders to earn a second income.
But that still leaves farmers a small problem: how to collect your fruits without getting bitten? "They are scared of water," Nielsen said, "When you are going to pick the fruits, just spray the trees with water, and the ants will return to their nests... in about 20 minutes."
EARNING
Nielsen realizes the project won't be fully accepted by the African farmers unless they can find a market to sell their ant-protected organic fruit. That is why researchers are relying on the Aarhus School of Business (ASB) at Aarhus University to identify commercial opportunities for the farmers.
"The basic purpose of the project is to create better and more stable incomes for farmers in Africa", said John Thoegersen, professor of Economic Psychology at ASB.
He and his colleagues are currently investigating the barriers that exist for exporting these organic products to Europe, including the need to comply with strict European regulations regarding the certification of organic products.
Thoegersen told Xinhua in a telephone interview that Europe presents a big opportunity for organic food producers in developing countries. Denmark, for instance, has the highest market share of organic food (7 percent) of any European Union country, while Germany has the largest market for organic goods by volume.
But he cautioned that when marketing these agricultural products in Europe, "there needs to be a fit between retailers' demand and what the African producers can deliver." Some retailers may want whole, packaged organic fruit like raw mangoes, or plain fried cashew nut, while others might want organic fruit pieces ready to be used in cakes, energy bars and ice-creams.
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