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• cissy's blog

Yearly, Uganda is endowed with good rains in the months of May, and October to early December. These rains are indigenously known as enkuba ya musenene, literally meaning season rains for Grasshoppers (Nsenene).

Grasshoppers (Nsenene) are orthopterous (plant eating) insects in nature and live on the coastal boarders of the great lakes region. They are 1-4” long in size, and their lifecycle ends in the months of October – December, after they lay eggs and thereafter swarm out to conclude their cycle.
 They are categorized in four colours, shaded purple, dark green, light green and light brown and they only move at night with their heads and anthers pointing downwards.

They swarm in the dark, from 7 p.m. till 7 a.m. As they are not comfortable with the broad daylight, once they detect that it is dawn, they immediately look for darkness and hide in the grass, and for this reason they are called “Grasshoppers”.

Since time immemorial, grasshoppers have settled on the top of the hills and catchers travel far and spend the entire day searching through the grass for the harvest. It is quite labour-intensive and risky, as one could catch many other dangerous insects like the poisonous centipedes and reptiles like the snakes.

To become wealthy, some brave Ugandans harness nature. Imagine: God’s nature is a get rich quick enterprise. Grasshopper catchers are always prepared for the season and they trap them in large numbers before the grasshoppers cross over to the end of their life-cycle.

When Grasshoppers sense light they think that it’s already dawn and get attracted, and as a result they are trapped. “You have to be innovative. Because I could not get enough money to purchase the galvanized iron sheets, drums and florescent bulbs needed, I had to acquire a quick loan from micro-financing institutions in order to construct the grasshopper trap," said Emanuel of Kabarole. "I have now benefited, I am going to pay off the loan and build a house,” he said.

The bulbs that have strong light are manipulated by removing the external coat, leaving the internal tube naked, which is very bright at night. Forty iron sheets are placed sideways and slid into drums. As the grasshoppers assume that it is already morning, they become attracted to the light. They bump into iron sheets, slide and drop into the drum.

 “As we struggle to remove them out of the drums, the light is very dangerous and hurts the eyes, while the grasshoppers’ thorny legs scratch the arm-skin, which as a result, looks as if it is suffering from scabies. It’s a lucrative opportunity, although it’s a risky venture,” commented Joseph of Kasubi market.

In the village it‘s a different story to tell; electricity is a mere dream. Some villagers have a superstition, “they catch one grasshopper and hide it under a stone, with a belief that if this one remains in the grass and does not fly high to enable the catch, then during the next season others will be attracted to the same spot, Mercy says. "And children are cautioned not to make noise at dawn as the grasshoppers will run away.”

 “When I was young, we would sense some noise at around 10 o’clock as the grasshoppers knocked each other, while swarming away at night,” related Paul of Kibooha.

At 7pm the grasshoppers (Nsenene) swarm away, knocking each other and fighting for space. Unlike locusts, they don’t destroy nature.

Culturally and in olden days, some women in rural areas never ate nsenene, but they would catch them for their husbands in order to get a Christmas gift, a costume and a season’s feast.

Often men invest in high risk opportunity ventures; they carry out real harvesting; they make quick money out of grasshoppers. Nsenene are a delicacy, nutritious and have high proteins and fat, in food value. “A mug goes for 3,000/= - 5,000/=. Women and children have joined in buying and selling,” says Denis of Nakasero market.

In Uganda some cultures believe that when a hen hatches its eggs, the shells and the nest materials should be laid at a road-junction, to deceive the eagles that all hatched chicks have died. This is done to prevent the eagles from eating the chicks. Likewise, ash used to remove the wings and legs of Nsenene, is also spread at the side of the road leading home. It is believed that every year, the grasshoppers will then be able to come back on the same spot.

After the harvest, they must be sold off when they are still alive; packed in open containers or sacks to allow aeration, as they smell badly if packed in un-aerated containers. If they over-stay they could become stale and could cause serious stomach illness if eaten.

In Buganda, Nsenene is a totem. The shrine of Nsenene clan is at Bakka in Busiro. Mugalula is the Head of Nsenene Clan.

Once upon a time, Nsenene swarmed to our neighbours in Kenya. “One overwhelmed Member of Parliament thought that they were locusts. This caused alarm to the Parliament. The Parliament advised people to destroy them with insecticides. However, one MP who had studied in Uganda long ago, advised his colleagues to pass a law to sell the grasshoppers back to Uganda, because this is where they had swarmed from and Kenya would make good regional trade with Ugandans,” said Paul.

Well fried and dried Nsenene are very nutritious and enjoyed by many Ugandans.