Socio-economic and environmental implications of replacing conventional poultry feed with insect-based feed in Kenya.

Abstract

The growing scarcity of resources for feed production and environmental concerns highlight the unsustainability of conventional feed sources. Insect farming is considered as an alternative feed due to its low land and water requirements, its low ecological footprint, and circular economy contribution by converting biowaste into high-quality feed ingredients. While there is growing research on the technical feasibility and nutritional performance of insect-based feed, its potential beneifts are not quanitified. Using experimental and secondary data, we assess the potential socio-economic benefits of black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) to the Kenyan poultry sector. We find that replacing 5–50% of the conventional feed sources (fishmeal, maize, and soya bean meal) by BSFLM can generate a potential economic benefit of 69–687 million USD (0.1–1% of the total GDP) and 16–159 million USD (0.02–0.24% of the GDP) if the entire poultry sector (the commercial poultry sector) adopts BSFLM. These could translate to reducing poverty by 0.32–3.19 million (0.07–0.74 million) people, increasing employment by 25,000–252,000 (3300–33,000) people, and recycling of 2–18 million (0.24–2 million) tonnes of biowaste. Further, our findings show that replacing the conventional feeds by 5–50% BSFLM in the commercial poultry sector would increase the availability of fish and maize that can feed 0.47–4.8 million people at the current per capita of fish and maize consumption in Kenya. Similarly, the foreign currency savings can increase by 1–10 million USD by reducing feed and inorganic fertilzer importation. These findings suggest that greater investment to promote BSFLM could boost economic, environmental and social sustainability.