A project has been started amongst the local community where previously disadvantaged   members of the community produce pupae at home and then sell them to the main butterfly farm. These home producers are small farms in themselves. To put it into perspective these butterfly farmers are in fact a small entity which is preserved for the captive breeding of a few of the world's 20,000 butterfly species. The farmers collect the pinhead sized eggs from the leaves where they are laid. The eggs are then cared for until they hatch  into caterpillars, which are fed host plant cuttings. When the caterpillars change into chrysalises, the farmers collect them and sell the to the Main Impenjati Butterfly Farm. Some are kept back to complete the cycle  in captivity and some for release back into the wild. Butterfly farms can create employment in areas where opportunities and income are scarce. It's one of the few industries where people living in and around natural area's can earn as much as they would in less environmentally benign ways. This good money entices farmers to preserve the existing forests, or to re-grow trees and indigenous plants on degraded land. Butterfly farming can be done at home with a small investment in time, money and habitat. While it will not directly reduce the illegal tree cutting common to the natural forests, butterfly farmers and other locals tended to view trees less as fodder for fires, and more as a valuable standing resource. It's a participatory process that gets everyone in a wooded area onboard to create community jobs while sustainably managing the natural forests. Impenjati  Butterfly Farm teaches the local people butterfly farming methods in order that they can set up their own little farms and make an income from them.
 
 

African Monarch Larvae (Danaus chrysippus)

African Monarch Adult (Danaus chrysippus)

Pearl Charaxes pupae (Charaxes varanes)