“The benefits of BSF larvae farming in the livestock sector have caught the attention of poultry and pig farmer”, says Mr. Munyara, Technical staff Dagoretti BSF farm. Livestock farming is a basic livelihood and a significant activity for food security among the majority of the population in African countries, including Kenya. For example, in Kenya, livestock keeping is considered a pathway to eliminating poverty. (Thornton 2010, FAO 2012). “However, livestock keeping is currently in jeopardy, and below optimal production potential compared to a few years ago”. “This is mainly due to changes in weather conditions that have significantly challenged farmers globally”, he says. Other challenges to livestock production include social-political instability, which weakens the economy to support farmers.
What makes livestock production hard in Kenya?
“Livestock farmers face the major challenge of high feed prices, particularly in protein feeds”, Mr. Munyara explains. For example, in Kenya, poultry, and pig farming is considered a major contributing sector to the livestock, for both income and food security, mainly by vulnerable groups such as youths and women. “Despite this contribution to the economy, poultry and pig farming face several constraints that hinder their production”, he says. “Lack of quality feeds is a major challenge faced by these vulnerable groups within the small-scale limit.” Feeds consume almost 70% of the total production costs in poultry farming, this hinders the production of poultry”, he explains.
What causes high prices for poultry and pig feed?
The cost of ingredients involved in poultry and pig feed formulation is the main cause of alleviating prices for poultry feeds. Ingredients such as soybeans face a major challenge of production due to changing climatic conditions. Hence, Kenya does not produce enough soybeans to support feed production. Likewise, fish meal which is the option has recently faced the challenge of overfishing. This has led to the government putting fishing regulations making fish meals expensive. “There is also stiff competition for these protein ingredients between humans and livestock that still contributes to their higher prices” he says.
What are the solutions to protein feed shortage?
To overcome these challenges of feed shortage, farmers rely on imported feeds for both poultry and pig rearing. These imported feeds face high regulations in terms of taxes. This in turn leads to a high off for such feeds. Furthermore, political crises like the war between Russia, and Ukraine have led to shortages of imported feeds. Farmers using these have reported low income reported low-income returns for poultry and pig farming. This has become a major hindrance in farming. Benefits BSF larvae can used to solve this problem.
What are sustainable solutions for protein feed shortage?Benefits of BSF larvae farming
To solve problems of escalating poultry, and pig feeds caused by weather changes and political instabilities, “Kenyan farmers are slowly adopting black soldiers fly farming as a sustainable alternative method of protein feed production “, says Mr. Munyara. This aims at boosting the inadequate protein feeds from soybeans and fish meal.
Black soldier fly is an important insect that has revolutionized poultry, and pig farming. They hold great potential to replace expensive soybeans and fish meal feed due to their high protein content. Furthermore, black soldier flies possess a high rate of reproduction, which ensures a good supply of protein within a short period at a cheaper cost to cope with the increasing demand for feeds.
Benefits of BSF larvae farming.
First Benefits of BSF larvae is High nutritional content.
“Black soldier fly larvae contain a high protein content of up to 43% as compared to many protein feeds used by the farmers”, he says. In addition, BSF larvae are packed with high calcium and amino acid content.
Second Benefits of BSF larvae is Fast way of producing feeds.
Black soldier flies have high reproduction, and short life cycles, meaning they can produce large amounts of feed within a short period. “One fly can lay 500 to 900 eggs, which hatch into larvae within 3 to 4 days”. “The larvae feed vigorously, gaining weight within a very short time, as compared to soya beans and fish”, Mr. Munyara explains.
Third benefits of BSF larvae framing, Black soldier flies are straightforward to rear.
For farmers to start BSF farming, they only need breeding. Farmers either attract wild BSF or buy them from already established farms. Feeding is very efficient as they feed on a wide range of organic waste. They are labor-intensive as they require very little management. Farmers can keep them as side hustle jobs.
Environmental friendly methods of feed production.
BSF larvae farming is one of the Sustainable methods of environmentally friendly feed production. In fact, instead of polluting the surroundings, BSF larvae feed on organic wastes that pollute the environment.
Another benefits of BSF larvae is Cheap source of protein feed.
Compared to other protein feed sources, BSF larvae are very cheap. The input required for the production of BSF larvae is way low as compared to the soya beans, and fish meal. The production of larvae is also weather-independent, hence year-round production. Furthermore, the harvesting and preparation of larvae are simple. In fact, farmers can alive larvae to poultry instead of drying them. Finally, drying is easy and cheap as it requires only natural sunlight for 2 to 3 days.
They need less fodder to produce more meat.
To add more emphasis on how beneficial reproduction is compared to animals, BSF larvae excel at converting fodder into food. While you require 10 kg of fodder to make 1 kg of meat, BSF larvae require 1.5 kg of the same fodder to produce 1 kg of meat.
Fertilizer residues as a benefits of BSF larvae framing
In addition to a high conversation ration of fodder, the remaining residue is a good source of minerals to crop and is used in the farm as biofertilizer.
Another benefits of BSF larvae framing is Efficient organic waste management.
At the larval stage, the BSF has a very high feeding capacity for a wide range of organic waste such as food wastes, manure, and plant residues. This makes them essential in waste management.
Sustainable animal protein feed production as a benefits of BSF larvae framing
As mentioned above, livestock farming is a basic lifestyle of many African populations, and the demand for protein feed for animal feeds keeps on rising. BSF larvae farming possesses an alternative solution to traditional protein feed production. As the world turns into a conservation Agriculture, such sustainable methods for feed production are crucial as they minimize the negative impact of traditional methods of food production.
Last benefits of BSF larvae framing is Job creation for venerable groups
And finally, BSF farming creates job opportunities for vulnerable youth and women who produce the feed. Mr. Munyara is a part-time employee on the farm.
Challages that hinder the benefits of BSF larvae framing.
“The lack of enough organic wastes limits the production of BSF larvae to meet their full potential,” Mr. Munyara says.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, BSF larvae farming has numerous benefits as a sustainable method of producing protein feeds for poultry and pigs. Their high nutritional content has made them a perfect solution to producing protein feeds while minimizing the negative impact of traditional methods of feed production. BSF farming has presented itself as the perfect solution to reducing pressure on natural resources such as fishery making them attractive economically, and feasible options for farmers. In addition, BSF larvae farming reduces protein food competition between humans and livestock. Lastly, as the world shifts into conservation Agriculture and the demand for protein feeds increases, sustainable methods such as BSF larvae farming which are environmentally safe and friendly are crucial for sustainable future livestock production.
References.
https://nilepost.co.ug/news/156639/the-black-soldier-fly-the-unsung-hero-of-sustainable-farming
