Innovative with Insects

Challenges in Kenya

The fast growing population and urbanization of Kenya is leading to several challenges as excessive waste and the limited supply of protein rich food. To reduce the amount of waste, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has written a draft policy and bill. The "National Sustainable Waste Management Policy” will force businesses to handle their waste in a sustainable way. This offers opportunities for innovative circular businesses. Another challenge of a growing population is feeding this population with sustainable protein rich food. Fish is a very efficient form of animal protein in terms of feed, water usage and emission. Unfortunately the production of local fish has been difficult partly due to the high prices of protein rich fish food. Talash Huijbers realized she could tackle both problems simultaneously with a circular and sustainable solution; production of the Black Soldier Fly (BSF).

The Circular Fly

The Hermetia illucens or Black Soldier Fly, an insect common in Kenya, has a spectacular ability to convert organic waste into protein and is renowned for easy handling. The larvae of the fly can consume as much as 70% of its own body weight in waste every day. For every kilogram of organic waste that it consumes, nearly 50 grams of protein are produced that can act as a feed supplement for commercial livestock such as poultry or fish. Moreover, the leftover product which remains after the decomposition process can be used as a high nitrogen organic fertilizer.

This large amount of waste is needed because to produce 1 ton of insect flour 6 tons of waste are required. Currently, she is still working on the production process and becoming as efficient as possible. Talash is proud and smiles when she says that "At first it took 6 weeks to go from egg to egg, but now I got the process down and it only takes 26 days!".

She already received her first inquiry for 500.000 kilo of insect flour, but she is not quite there yet. Hopefully within a few months she can start producing at a large scale. While insect flour is being made, the feces of the flies have been found to be a great fertilizer and thus everything within the cycle of the fly is being used. This business is of great value for Kenya because it will support the local economy in so many ways; as Talash says "My business will have a big impact on the Kenyan economy since it will reduce the prices of animal feed, give local farmers the ability to produce local fish, and fish and chickens, which feed on good quality protein (BSF) produce higher quality meat and eggs and thus will create a higher nutritional value and help solve food security within Kenya".

Since Talash is new within the industry and the industry is relatively new in itself as well, there are some challenges she faces like the lack of knowledge and the non-transparency of other companies.

   "There is no book what tells me what to do, I have to be very innovative to create solutions from other sectors"