Kenyan farmer Victor Kyalo’s
chickens have doubled the number of eggs they are laying. The reason: Human
excrement.
He is feeding them food from a Nairobi-based organics recycling company. Sanergy
harvests waste from toilets it operates in a franchise network in Nairobi’s
sprawling slums and feeds it to fly larvae, which become high-quality animal
feed.
Kyalo says his customers have
noticed the difference in the past three weeks: yellower yolks and larger eggs.
“Before we were getting like five trays (of eggs) per day, but now we are
getting 10,” Kyalo said. “It’s kind of perfect for me.”
As the world looks to feed 10 billion mouths by 2050, businesses harvesting
insects — either for human consumption or as animal feed — are growing. They
promote themselves as a greener alternative to traditional feed such as
soybeans, whose cultivation can lead to deforestation and the overuse of farm
chemicals.
From loo to food
David Auerbach co-founded Sanergy eight years ago to deal with sanitation.
The waste management franchise provides more than 2,500 toilets to 100,000
people daily.
Lilian Mbusia runs one of Sanergy’s franchises, charging residents of Mukuru
Kwa Ruben slum in the south of the city $5 cents to use her blue “Fresh Life”
toilets.
Nestled beneath her squat-toilets
are small blue barrels that, once full, are sealed and taken to an organics
recycling factory in Machakos County, a bumpy 40-minute drive outside the city.
Beds of writhing black soldier fly larvae feast on a mix of excrement and food
waste from hotels and agri-businesses.
That produces two products for farmers: fertiliser and animal feed.
In 10 days the larvae munch their
way through 70% of the waste, leaving behind a manure laden with nitrogen and
calcium, which becomes organic fertiliser.
Once the recycling plant is expanded later this year, Auerbach said it will
provide 400 tonnes of fertiliser. Larvae production will ratchet up from 7
tonnes to 300 tonnes per month.
The plump white larvae are boiled in
hot water to kill off pathogens, Michael Lwoyelo, managing director of Sanergy,
said.
The larvae are then sold to animal feed millers, who grind them into powder
mixed with other ingredients to create a balanced diet for poultry, pigs and
fish.
