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 WHAT
IS THE MARKET FOR BUTTERFLIES
Twice
a week, representatives from the Amani Butterfly
Project collect butterfly pupae from member farmers.
At the end of the day, staff members sort and
pack the collected pupae neatly into cardboard
boxes lined with styrofoam and cotton.The following
day, the pupae begin a 3 to 4 day journey with
DHL to a live butterfly exhibit in Europe or the
US.
After
arriving at a butterfly house, the butterfly pupae
are hung for a short period of time before they
emerge. Once they emerge, the butterflies are
released into a large enclosed garden aviary where
visitors come to learn about and enjoy butterflies.
Due to the short life span of most tropical butterflies,
exhibits typically order new pupae every two to
three weeks. The Amani Butterfly Project also
sells some preserved butterflies to dealers and
collectors.
HOW
MUCH ARE BUTTERFLIES WORTH?
 Depending
on species, each pupae is worth between $1.00
USD and $2.50 USD. Farmers receive about 70% of
the final sale price. In a community where households
typically earn less than $400 a year in cash income,
this is very good money. The chart to the right
shows the project's growing sales for each year.
Although
butterfly farming is a side activity for most
of the households participating in the project,
the average household has seen a 25% increase
in income since starting to farm butterflies.
The main limit on expanding sales further is the
relatively small size of the live butterfly exhibit
market. To help increase the market for farmed
butterflies, the project is now exploring the
possibility of creating butterfly souvenirs for
tourist markets in Tanzania and gift shops of
live butterfly exhibits in Europe and the US.
WHERE
YOU CAN SEE OUR BUTTERFLIES
The
United Kingdom
Europe
USA
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