OWSD NIgeria National Chapter presents Food Waste Treatment with Black Soldier Fly: A Sustainable Approach to Income Generation and Climate Change Mitigation in Nigeria.
December 27, 2024
OWSD Nigeria University of Port Harcourt Branch Series of Scientific Communication: Ijeoma Joy AGBAI on Food Waste Treatment with Black Soldier Fly
Food Waste Treatment with Black Soldier Fly: A Sustainable Approach to Income Generation and Climate Change Mitigation in Nigeria.
Ijeoma Joy AGBAI
Abstract
Globally, One-third of food produced for human consumption is wasted. The waste occurs at different stages of food production. About 14 million tons of food in Nigeria are wasted annually due to poor infrastructure and inadequate storage facilities. Food waste contributes to 24 percent of municipal waste and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, leading to climate change, environmental degradation, and loss of valuable resources. Several conventional waste management approaches are associated with increased ecological toxicity and high cost. Therefore the exploration of better alternatives is crucial for waste treatment. Our promising approach includes the integration of BSF farming in waste management. Black Soldier Larvae are voracious waste eaters who consume a wide range of organic waste. Nigeria is well suited for the deployment of BSF farming in waste management due to population growth rate, climate conditions, and high food demand. Furthermore, BSF larvae are highly nutritious protein suitable for livestock farmers, easy to rear, and have a high return on investment. Integrating BSF farming as waste management emerges as a promising strategy for climate change mitigation, and income generation resulting in youth engagement.
1.0 Introduction
Globally, municipal waste is expected to reach 3.5 billion tons by 2050 generated annually with a greater portion from developing nations thereby resulting in global warming. Food waste, agricultural byproducts, and biodegradables are major components of organic waste contributing significantly to global waste. Annually, in global space 1.3 billion tons of food waste are produced contributing to about 30% of global food production and costing about USD1 trillion (UNEP, 2021). In Nigeria, 50% to 80% of municipal waste is organic rated among the four top food waste-generating nations producing 37,900,000 tonnes annually (Kolawole,2024). The utilization of organic waste has a multifaceted impact which contributes significantly to climate neutrality as well as socio-economic empowerment. According to the waste hierarchy, waste reuse as human and animal feed is next to prevention (Albizzati, et al., 2021). Municipal waste has a great impact on climate change. Poor mitigation approaches to sources of climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa expose it as the most vulnerable to associated impact (Ofori, 2021). Globally, landfill disposal is the easiest and most practiced waste management which results in a variety of environmental toxicity. Composting is another waste valorization that is associated with gas emissions, especially methane, nitrous oxide, and ammonia. Other traditional recycling technologies with related environmental impact include anaerobic digestion and incineration. However, insect bioconversion with black soldier fly of waste into value products has been proven. Co-treatment strategies enhance the bioconversion efficiency of BSFL an indication of the effectiveness of BSF application over a wide range of organic/food waste.
2.0 Waste Management
Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius as a recommended threshold by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), requires carbon neutrality. Effective management of municipal waste is essential in achieving this, as it presents both environmental challenges as well as income-generating opportunities. Evaluation of available options is necessary to enhance the process and engage a better approach to organic waste valorization. Assessment of available conventional waste management approaches is associated with high environmental toxicity. According to an investigation by Ferronato, (2024), the impact on global warming by landfill, composting, anaerobic digestion, and BSF technique ranges between 1146–1243 kg CO2-eq, 59–99 kg CO2-eq, −299–66 kg CO2-eq, and −32.39 - 41.42 kg CO2-eq respectively with the result showing BSF technology as a better option for handling organic waste treatment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) of the BSF treatment process linked energy consumption that accompanies BSF breeding, boiling, and storage as processes generating the impact. However, the application of renewable energy facilities offers an acceptable limit of gas emissions than what is obtainable with the burning of fossil fuel.
2.1 Income generation worth of BSF farming
Fig 1:Hermetia illucens Source: (Heiman, 2017)
The exploration of BSF in agriculture has drawn the attention of several scientists in the recent past. The increase in cost and decrease in livestock feed has called for a search for alternatives. Hermetian illucens larvae demonstrate potential for this purpose and have been found to contain high protein and fat though distinct depending on the Larvae substrate. Limbu, et al., 2022 reported that a corporation of 74 % BSF diet enhanced feed efficiency in NIle tillapai resulting in 30% feed cost. In poultry, Dörper, et al., 2024 investigation revealed laying hens fed with BSF larvae product demonstrated similar production parameters except for lower egg weight during the last 2 weeks of investigation. BSFL feed has also been used in piggery and rabbit rearing. It has been well applied as an organic fertilizer as the BSF frass is associated with high concentrations of N, P, K, and other essential minerals.
2.2 Economic Viability of BSF
BSF farming is feasible to practice and has a huge global market presence which was valued at USD 330.19 million in 2023 and is projected to hit USD 4.12 billion By 2032 exhibiting a CAGR of 32.40% within the forecast period 2024 – 2032. Black Soldier Fly (BSF) remains one of the most credible options with the increase in fishmeal and soybean prices over the last decade. The larvae are marked with high nutritional value with crude protein levels ranging from 28 to 48 percent, and lipid levels from 12 to 42 percent. The lipid profile is broadly similar to fish meal. Among other benefits, Mass production of BSF requires less surface area than crops to produce the same amount of protein, whilst reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. Interviews with small-scale farmers revealed that rearing up to two tonnes of BSF larvae gives a return on investment of #1,000, 000 monthly. Nigeria is well suited for BSF farming with a population exceeding 200 million and growing at around 3% each year resulting in waste generation of 0.65-0.95 kg per person per day. Nigeria enjoys climate conditions well-suited for the development of black soldier fly larvae, which thrive in temperatures between 24-30°C. Farmers spent around 70% of their animal production budget on feed, with 70-90% of the protein needed for feed production being imported. Thus, feed costs are subject to foreign exchange fluctuations, driving the demand for cheaper and more stable alternative feed sources.
3.0 Conclusion
The need for urgent eradication of organic waste cannot be over-emphasized. This review showed that the current approach to waste management is not sufficient and impact negatively to climate conditions. The outcome of the use of BSF farming in waste management of organic related materials gave better outcome and serves as an income regenerating avenue. Results showed that synergy between stakeholders across the value chain will be instrumental in driving progress toward BSF farming eliminating organic waste from dumpsites and reducing climate change impact. Furthermore, the valorization of chitin, lipids, and proteins from BSF can be explored to increase the opportunities to replace fossil Fuels, plastic-based goods and enhance production services in pharmaceutical and cosmetics.
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