Nicaraguans struggling to afford meat as the country suffers its worst drought in 32 years should consider raising and eating iguanas, a government expert has said.
The advice comes amid warnings that Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador could require levels of humanitarian aid not seen since the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch 16 years ago, as poor harvests and rapid increases in the prices of staple items threaten a food crisis.
“Breeding iguanas brings two benefits,” land management expert Guillermo Membreno said. “Not only does it supply dietary protein, it also offers a commercial use for the animals.”
Photo: AFP
Iguanas contain 24 percent protein compared with 18 percent in chicken, Membreno added.
Although Nicaragua’s environmental laws forbid the hunting of iguanas between Jan. 1 and April 30 each year, the lizards can be kept for food and even exported under certain circumstances.
“Farming iguanas — and not hunting them in forests — is a good way to deal with the food shortages caused by the prolonged drought,” Membreno told the government-run online newspaper La Voz del Sandinismo.
“Even if you have only got 10 iguanas, you have got something that offers food — and cash if you sell the iguanas for their meat, their skins or as pets,” he said.
He also suggested that people grow moringa trees, which require little water and the leaves of which can be used as animal feed.
A survey conducted by another Nicaraguan newspaper found that the cost of 15 of the 19 basic items in the average shopping basket — including such staples as beans, corn, tomatoes and peppers — had risen over the past week.
However, the government’s suggestions met with a mix of scorn and ridicule from some Nicaraguans.
“I was going to have an iguana for breakfast, but it ran away. I was going to have beans, but they are up to 37 [Nicaraguan cordobas, US$1.42] a pound today,” tweeted one.
Another, mocking the Sandinista government’s motto — “Christian, socialist, caring” — posted a picture of an iguana with the caption: “Anyone fancy a caring mini-Godzilla?”
Despite the humor, the situation in Central America’s poorest country is growing increasingly serious. According to the national livestock commission, Conagan, the drought saw 2,500 cattle starve to death last month, while a further 600,000 of Nicaragua’s 4.1 million livestock are on the verge of starvation.
The drought’s effect on crops and food prices led Nicaragua’s central bank to cut its economic growth outlook and raise its inflation forecast on Monday. The bank said it expected GDP growth to be between 4 and 4.5 percent this year, down from the 4.5 to 5 percent it forecast in the spring.
A day later, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network released an alert highlighting the risk of widespread food shortages in the region next year.
With the drought and El Nino affecting both the livestock and fishing industries, the network said that “atypically high” levels of human assistance would probably be needed.
“The number of people in need of assistance could be the largest since hurricane Mitch in 1998,” it said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing