Sustainable Use of Insects to Improve Livestock Production and Food Security in Smallholder Farms in West Africa (IFWA)

Titre du projet

Description

In West Africa, smallholder poultry and fish farmers suffer from the increasing cost of feed. Many of them do not have access to feed protein sources, resulting in quantitative and qualitative feed shortages affecting production of meat, eggs and fish, and reducing family income. A solution to develop sustainable household poultry farming and aquaculture systems is the use of untapped local, easily available and cheap protein sources. Insects, which are a natural food source of poultry and fish, are one such source. Insects are rich in protein as well as other valuable nutrient, and can be mass produced locally and on-farm. Fly larvae have the advantage to many other insects of feeding on organic waste material. The most promising and commonly used species for feed are the house fly and the black soldier fly. Termites are another type of insects that can be used for animal feed. Although the use of fly larvae and termites for poultry and fish nutrition is promising, several issues have to be solved before the methods become widely adopted by smallholder farmers. In particular: on-farm fly larvae production and termite collection systems need to be optimised; the nutritional suitability of the insects for poultry and fish needs to be further assessed; the safety of insect rearing systems and insect-based feed needs to be evaluated for animal and human health; the capacity of fly larvae to recycle waste in smallholder farms and the value of residues from on-farm rearing systems need to be considered; the impacts on household nutrition, income and livelihoods needs to be assessed; the acceptability of eating animals fed with insects may have to be improved; the use of insects as animal feed needs to be promoted within the context of national policies.

Chercheur principal

Fresia, Marion

Aebi, Alexandre

Statut

Completed

Date de début

1 Janvier 2017

Date de fin

1 Décembre 2020

Chercheurs

Kenis, Marc

Organisations