Socioeconomic drivers of wild meat consumption in the city of Iquitos, Peru.

Abstract

Wild meat represents a vital source of micro- and macronutrients for forest-dwelling people; however, city dwellers with access to animal protein from different animals may also consume large amounts of wild meat as part of their customs and traditions, to diversify their diets, to maintain connections to their rural kin, and to access meat without having to pay the high prices of domestic meat in the city. The aggregate urban and rural demand for wild meat consumption demonstrates a great risk for overhunting highly preferred and vulnerable species and degrading already fragile Amazonian ecosystems and the food security of people in rural areas. We assessed the effects of socioeconomics factors on wild meat consumption in the city of Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. We conducted 1548 interviews with consumers across the city of Iquitos and collected socioeconomic and wild meat consumption data. We used a double hurdle model to estimate simultaneously the probability of a consumer eating wild meat each week and their consumption rate based on 10 variables. In final parsimonious models, monthly income, location in the city (district and distance to market), amount of education, and amount of time spent in Iquitos were all important factors determining consumption rate. We predicted that consumption rates would vary across the city and in some areas would be as high as >7 kg·person^-1·year^-1. The spatial distribution of wild meat consumption showed that people in newer, rapidly growing parts of the city consumed more wild meat and were therefore more dependent on sustainable supply chains. We recommend that consumers who have very high predicted consumption rates may be useful targets for conservation efforts to reduce that consumption, such as culturally relevant, informal educational programs. In our study, these people migrated from rural areas and live along the Iquitos-Nauta Road and are wealthy consumers in downtown Iquitos.