The tremendous strain on the world economy has made food security and animal feed very costly, and sometimes unattainable for most. With a growing population and shortages of real, whole foods, the strain on producing food becomes inevitable. Better methods for producing food and animal feed have to be implemented. So, how can black soldier farming come to the rescue?
The global impact on food security
Chickens, pigs, and fish are among some of the most consumed animals on the planet, but feeding them is very costly, leaving farmers using poor feeding and breeding methods. Other farmers are also forced to close their doors because they cannot sustain their businesses. The convenience of buying non-organic food became the next best option to stay fed. We can agree that there is plenty of research backing up how non-organic food can lead to several chronic illnesses. So what we feed our animals and produce is ultimately what we eat.
Some feeding methods are often questionable or rather unsustainable in the long run. For instance, feeding your fish dry chicken manure: this might work, but it can also create disease or side effects in the fish’s life quality and that of humans. Cautionary methods need to stay applicable when using raw or untreated poultry waste, as it can be filled with harmful pathogens, antibiotic residues, and heavy metals.
It’s quite sad to see that while there isn’t enough to feed people, there is still enough food waste happening all over the world. The DESA-EN United Nations has projected the world population to reach between 9 and 10 billion people by 2050, and that there will be a lot of mouths to feed. In order to ensure that we do it the right way, we need proper plans and implementations in place.
The environmental impact
Fish:
The consumption of aquatic animal products continues to skyrocket, with an estimated 165 million tons increase in the next few years. Our marine life is at risk; overfishing has caused a significant decrease in fish being able to produce or even survive as they should. While fish farming has its place in solving the problem, it also has disadvantages that you can read about in the article: “Fish Farming In Africa Has Its Place In Food Security”.
The estimated 17 to 20 million tons of wild-caught fish are processed for animal feed every year, which most marine life depends on. This will eventually cause most fish species to become extinct in a few decades.
Poultry:
Let’s talk about chicken as one of the most consumed food products in the world. Chickens are delicious and quite fast to produce in most cases. However, feeding chickens is extremely expensive. Inadequate feeding plans result in closing businesses and cutting corners. We have now gotten to a point where lab-grown meat is being introduced in many parts of the world. We need to get back to basics and work on better ways to produce good, whole, and organic poultry as soon as possible.
The gist
By now, I believe you understand what the problem is and that there are great solutions that we need to put in place, right?
The worm may be our hero
Here at Pikani Harvest, we have a homestead where we keep a couple of chickens and fish. We definitely came across many problems with feed costs and availability. Our low wages prompted us to look into other ways we can save money and keep our food supply up. We researched online and found a few solutions, such as superworms, mealworms, and red wiggler worms.
We finally landed on Black soldier fly larvae. During the first month, we fed our chickens the larvae, and added the dry larvae to our fish feed and boy did we witness a miracle! During the hot summer months, chickens really get sick, and while we free range our chickens for the most part, we don’t always give them full days where they can find food for themselves. Feeding our chickens the BSF larvae helped them in more ways than one.
What is a Black Soldier Fly?
Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) is a highly beneficial, non-pest insect known for its voracious appetite, consuming waste food material. It consumes food leftovers, rotten agricultural products, and even dead animals.
How can I farm these maggots?
When farmed under optimal conditions, the maggots multiply their body weight by up to 8000 times in just 7 to 14 days. Their protein content is up to 60%, which is the same amount found in fish. The natural cycle of life detects the longevity and probability of fish life enough to reproduce, but in most cases, that is highly unlikely because fish take years or several months to fully mature. However, bsf takes 12-15 days from eggs to being harvested.
a black soldier adult fly laying on a human hand in the maggot room-image
Our chickens!
Not only did our chickens heal from their diseases, but their feathers grew bigger and fuller, the hens laid consistently, including in the colder months, and they were generally much happier. After using the BSF to increase the protein content of the chicken and fish feed, since it was less than what we wanted, we witnessed what you would call a miracle. Now we no longer buy fish feed; we make our own, cutting our chicken feed cost by 50%. BSF larvae have really changed our lives; we produce nearly 50kg of live maggots a month, and all we do is feed them waste.
The benefits of feeding Black Soldier Fly Larvae to our livestock and vegetables
As stated above, the wonderful benefits of these magic fly larvae are unmistakably awesome. We use the rich, decomposed larva manure after they have consumed the food as compost for our vegetables. The frass is a highly potent organic fertiliser which boost of vegetables growth.
We believe black soldier fly has been overlooked. Farmers these days depend on external entities to buy animal feed rather than making their own feed. South Africa is so behind when it comes to black soldier fly farming, whereas countries like Kenya and Nigeria are leading the BSF country in Africa.
If more people can be trained or use BSFL to feed their livestock, we can reduce overfishing and reduce waste in landfills. Black soldier fly farming is one of the most profitable and semi-passive activities to cut down the cost of your omnivore and carnivore animals.
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