IFWA: Insect as Feed in West Africa

Summary

In West Africa, many smallholder poultry and fish farmers do not have access to feed protein sources, resulting in quantitative and qualitative feed shortages that affects the production of meat, eggs and fish.
A solution to develop sustainable household poultry farming and aquaculture systems is the use of insects, which are rich in protein as well as other valuable nutrient. As animal feed, the insects can be mass produced locally and on-farm.
The IFWA project has shown that fly larvae and termites are economically, socially and environmentally viable sources of protein for poultry and fish feed on smallholder farms in West Africa. Adding fly larvae and termites in the diet significantly enhances local chicken growth performances and egg production. The use of insects as feed provides new opportunities for income generation among local populations and will potentially have an effect on local food security.