An international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Rainforest Alliance, has embarked on a programme of popularizing insect rearing as a new lifeline and source of income among youth and women in Embu and Kirinyaga Counties in Kenya.
The NGO’s Mt. Kenya Sustainable Landscape and Livelihood Programme official Susan Kinyua said edible insect farming especially of crickets and black soldier flies was a rapidly growing enterprise providing income, affordable protein for human and animal feeds as well as a means of environmental conservation. Ms. Kinyua said cricket and black soldier flies rearing had proven to be a viable economic activity as their demands were on the rise for food and feed.
“Our aim is to expose youth and women to technologies that can be turned into viable business enterprises for those without any economic activity as well as livelihood diversification for those with other economic engagements. Insect farming is easy to implement and cost effective in terms of setting up owing to the small space required, not labor intensive and not a threat to other competing priorities,” the officer said.
New trend
Ms. Kinyua said they were implementing the project in partnership with an array of stakeholders both from the government and private sector to help boost the uptake and absorption of the new trend as well as link farmers with markets for their produce.
Facilitator Ms. Sharleen Muriuki from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Enterprise Department, said insect farming offered a highly economical and sustainable solution to food and nutrition insecurity in the country. She said return on investment was good as a kilo of mature crickets and black soldier flies could fetch up to Sh2, 500 with 3 grams of eggs fetching Sh1, 500 in the market.
Ms. Muriuki said investment could be converted into profit within a duration of a month or less given that the insects have a short lifespan of 14 days for black soldier flies and 45 days for crickets to reach maturity.
They have a high protein content of up to 60% and could be used to do value addition to foodstuffs such as flour or be incorporated to animal feeds. Additionally, the insects are very useful in environmental conservation as they mainly feed on leftovers foods and waste crops that they later convert into organic waste that could be used as manure in the farm.
, Rainforest Alliance, has embarked on a programme of popularizing insect rearing as a new lifeline and source of income among youth and women in Embu and Kirinyaga Counties in Kenya.){kind=link}