The Potential Economic Benefits of Insect-Based Feed in Uganda
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Date
2022-11
Authors
Abro, Zewdu
Macharia, Ibrahim
Mulungu, Kelvin
Subramanian, Sevgan
Tanga, Chrysantus Mbi
Kassie, Menale
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Abstract
Black soldier fly farming is gaining traction globally as a strategy for recycling
organic waste into high-quality proteins and fat for feed and organic fertilizer
for crop production. The support of governments in East Africa to integrate
insect meal in livestock feed has opened opportunities for commercializing
insect products. Understanding the potential value of Black soldier fly larvae
meal (BSFLM) is paramount to inform policies and practices to promote insect
farming and insect-based feed for livestock production. This paper uses the
economic surplus method to generate evidence on the potential
socioeconomic impact of replacing conventional soybean and fish meal
protein sources with insect-based feed (IBF), BSFLM, in Uganda. Results
indicate that substitution of IBF for existing protein sources will generate net
economic benefits of USD 0.73 billion in 20 years (0.037 billion per year). The
benefit-cost ratio is estimated at 28:1, and the internal rate of return is 138%,
indicating that the insect-based animal feed industry is a profitable investment.
Even in the worst-case scenario, when the replacement rate of IBF and its
economic benefits are reduced by half, the benefit-cost ratio remains high
(8:1). The estimated economic benefit can lift about 4.53 million people above
the poverty line in the country. It can also create about 1,252─563,302 new jobs
per annum, depending on the substitution rate of conventional protein feeds
with IBF (0.1%─45%). Uganda has the potential to produce from about 3,244
tons to 1.5 million tons of IBF. Similarly, using the same replacement rates, the
country can produce about 695─312,678 tons of NPK fertilizer from biowaste
recycling. About 0.09-41 million tons of biowaste could be recycled,
depending on the replacement rate of conventional feed sources with IBF.
Our results justify that investing in the insect feed value chain can contribute to
Uganda’s economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
Description
article
Keywords
black soldier fly, Uganda, economic impact, economic-surplus model, protein feed
Citation
Abro Z, Macharia I, Mulungu K, Subramanian S, Tanga CM and Kassie M (2022) The potential economic benefits of insect-based feed in Uganda. Front. Insect Sci. 2:968042. doi: 10.3389/finsc.2022.968042