Nile Bioeconomic Innovations Ltd (NBI) in collaboration with local and international partners have designed a novel technology and commercialized model for rearing Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae as the eco-friendly and sustainable approach for management of biodegradable waste from households, institutions, markets and factories in Uganda and the region.  The custom-designed technology will be distributed and utilized in at least 28 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using the technology supported by EcoBioSolution of Republic of Korea, the freshly collected biodegradable waste will be stabilized, crushed and blended for use as feed for the BSF larvae. The mature BSF larvae (pre-pupa stage) will be harvested and processed into high quality livestock feeds. The remains (frass) will be dried and packaged for use as high quality organic fertilizer and raw material for manufacturing organic pesticides. 

In addition to the waste handling technology, NBI is actively collaborating with universities and other institutions to explore and implement a catalogue of research and policy related innovations geared towards sustainable roll out of the zero-waste technology to 203 urban centres in Uganda by 2037, and demonstrated impact in 28 countries in Africa.

The business model assures low risk to investors, high return on investment and significantly high social and environmental impact.

The novelty of the concept is to introduce a system that is capable of converting large quantities of biodegradable waste into stabilized feedstuffs for BSF larvae, and to demonstrate the industrial application of the mature BSF larvae for sustainable green growth and development in Africa.

NBI aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of the initiative to reliably address the widespread solid waste management challenges in the urban centres of Africa. Its efficacy for reduction of methane emissions will be scientifically determined and quantified for market based climate financing opportunity.

On top of the ex-factory sales, the reduction in methane pollution will be quantified and the carbon credits taken to the market according to globally accepted standards.

The distribution of the livestock feeds and organic fertilizer will follow an innovative contract farming model in which the beneficiary farmers will be profiled under their respective contracted off-takers for selected value chains. The objective is to create a responsible distribution chain with measurable impact on the anticipated forward linkages in the development of agriculture and renewable energy.

The Problem

According to research from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), the waste sector is the third largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions worldwide, contributing about 20% of the total methane emissions (www.no-burn.org). Currently municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is a globally challenging issue especially in developing countries, due to its adverse environmental effects.

Biodegradable waste from households, institutions, markets and factories is a persistent environmental pollution issue in the urban centres of Africa, and its poor handling is a major cause of discomfort for communities. At the same time, a significant portion of this waste finds its way into the water bodies like rivers and lakes where it presents environmental and health risks which also raise the cost of treating water for human consumption. If innovative approaches are used to manage the biodegradable waste, the bi-products could be used as fertilizers and as animal feed.

Today, 60 -70% of production costs in animal husbandry derive from feed purchasing (animal meal, fishmeal, soybean meal). Meeting these needs will require the development of new animal feed production systems (FAO, 2009).

However, instead of consuming fish directly, around one-third of global fish catches are processed into fish oil and fishmeal for use in livestock and aquaculture feeds.

Current feed protein sources deplete wild fish populations and contribute to rainforest demise in a bid to produce more soybean and other plant protein. Capturing the resources in organic waste through the BSF model could help alleviate environmental impacts of food production.