Challenge
In East Africa, over 30 percent of food produced is spoiled and in Tanzania alone, 26K tons of food is wasted per day. More than 90 percent of waste generated in Africa is disposed at uncontrolled dumpsites and landfills, often with associated open burning, resulting in greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. One third of all CO2 and methane produced worldwide is caused by organic waste. Additionally, animal production is currently constrained by high costs of feed and prices continue to rise on the continent due to unavailability of alternative protein feed other than fishmeal and soy. Though tis protein feed is environmentally ruinous – 37 percent of fish caught globally going into animal feed while 70 percent of the global fish stock is fully used, overused or in crisis. At the same time, soy is the second largest contributor to deforestation globally.
Solution
Chanzi uses black soldier fly (BSF) larvae to convert food waste into nutritious protein for animal feed which ultimately reduces the sector’s dependence on environmentally ruinous fish and soya beans. The company offtakes unwanted food waste from smallholder farmers, commercial farms, urban markets, and businesses, and sells the resulting feed additive to livestock, poultry and fish farmers, agrodealers, and feed mills. Over the years, Chanzi developed innovative and efficient methods to grow, breed and harvest BSF, and set up construction projects and operating sites in Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar with the goal of expanding their model into other East African regions with similar organic waste management problems.
BSF can produce 2500 times more protein per acre per year than soy, using less water and land, and generally has higher levels of amino acids, fat and cholesterol. Insect use as a protein source is estimated to reduce the protein cost of feed production by between 25-37.5 percent, which increases affordability for smallholder farmers.
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