Bachelor thesis Lani Vints and Lara Huys

How sustainable and profitable is Black Soldier Fly farming for both small- and large-scale farmers in Rwanda and how can it be optimized?

Lara Huys and Lani Vints 2023-2024 3rd Bachelor Environmental and Sustainability Management Faculty DBO, HOGENT Joeri Brusselle University of Rwanda Jean D’Amour Manirere

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

2023-2024

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Preface This research was conducted as part of our internship during the final year of our Environmental and Sustainability Management studies at HOGENT. The internship was carried out in collaboration with the University of Rwanda (UR), the Concertation and Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (VSF). The aim is to analyse the process of Black Soldier Fly farming (BSFf) and identify the difficulties affecting its success. Specific suggestions for optimisation are made, that would lead to the growth of BSF farming in Rwanda. In the course of our project, communication was often a hurdle. The project also required us, among other things, to dive deeper into economic concepts we are not familiar with. Nevertheless, after consulting with experts in the field, we are pleased with the outcome. We would like to thank all people from the Concertation and VSF who helped us realising this project, as well as all the teachers and professors from both UR and HOGENT. We are grateful to the farmers we were able to visit and to everyone helping us to arrange these visits, it was such an interesting experience. Finally, we want to thank all our loved ones who have supported us throughout this project in every possible way.

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Abstract In Rwanda, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain sufficient protein feed for livestock due to the rising cost of conventional protein such as fish meal and soy beans. Farming Black Soldier Flies (BSFs) could be the solution for this. Their larvae contain a high level of protein and they are easy to farm with limited space and materials. This paper assesses the sustainability and profitability of Black Soldier Fly farming (BSFf) in Rwanda and subsequently discusses the optimisation possibilities. A questionnaire consisting of economic, environmental, social, partnership and food security questions was formulated to analyse the sustainability. This showed BSFf to be relatively sustainable, especially from an environmental perspective.

Nevertheless, there are still opportunities for growth such as creating a higher market demand, improving working conditions, issuing legislation on BSF and conducting more research. The profitability was assessed by creating a profitability tool. After implementation, it could be concluded that farming BSF, both for a small- and large-scale farmer, is profitable and worth getting involved in. The advisory report is based on the results of these two clusters combined with the experiments conducted. These recommendations were addressed specifically to the small-scale farmers. First and foremost it is advisable to optimize the process - specific suggestions for each step of BSFf are given in the report. Furthermore it is important that farmers devote enough time to BSF and that they collaborate in order to scale up easily.

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Content Preface ...................................................................................................................................3 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................4 List with abbreviations .............................................................................................................7 1.

2.

Introduction .....................................................................................................................8 1.1

The Black Soldier Fly ................................................................................................8

1.2

Rwandan context .....................................................................................................9

1.3

Why choose Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda?.....................................................9

General information ....................................................................................................... 10 2.1

Process of Black Soldier Fly farming (BSFf) .............................................................. 10

2.2

Nutrients ............................................................................................................... 14

2.3

Value chain of Black Soldier Fly farming .................................................................. 15

2.3.1

Value chain mapping .......................................................................................... 16

2.3.2

Summary ........................................................................................................... 18

2.4 2.4.1 3.

3.1.1 3.2

Methodology .......................................................................................................... 19 Rating phases .................................................................................................... 20 Results .................................................................................................................. 20

3.2.1

Economical ....................................................................................................... 21

3.2.2

Environmental.................................................................................................... 24

3.2.3

Social ................................................................................................................ 27

3.2.4

Partnership ........................................................................................................ 30

3.2.5

Food security ..................................................................................................... 31

3.3

Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 32

Profitability cluster ......................................................................................................... 33 4.1

Methodology .......................................................................................................... 33

4.1.1

Creating profitability tool .................................................................................... 33

4.1.2

Implementing profitability tool ............................................................................ 34

4.2

Results .................................................................................................................. 34

4.2.1

Small-scale........................................................................................................ 34

4.2.2

Large-scale ........................................................................................................ 34

4.3 5.

Rwanda Standards Board ................................................................................... 18

Sustainability cluster ...................................................................................................... 19 3.1

4.

Legislation, laws and policies ................................................................................. 18

Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 35

Advice cluster ................................................................................................................ 35 5.1

Methodology .......................................................................................................... 35

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Experiments....................................................................................................... 35 Results .................................................................................................................. 38 Experiments....................................................................................................... 38

6.

SWOT ............................................................................................................................ 43

7.

Advisory report ............................................................................................................... 44 7.1

General ................................................................................................................. 45

7.2

Infrastructure ......................................................................................................... 45

7.3

Incubating eggs ...................................................................................................... 46

7.4

Batching ................................................................................................................ 47

7.5

Reproduction ......................................................................................................... 47

7.6

Harvesting larvae ................................................................................................... 47

7.7

Drying .................................................................................................................... 48

8.

Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 49

9.

Appendices .................................................................................................................... 51 9.1

List of figures ......................................................................................................... 51

9.2

List of tables .......................................................................................................... 52

9.3

Farm visits 09/03/2024 ........................................................................................... 53

9.3.1 9.4 9.4.1 9.5 9.5.1

Summary of the visits ......................................................................................... 53 Farm visit 13/03/2024............................................................................................. 56 Summary of the visit ........................................................................................... 56 Farm visits 12/04/2024 ........................................................................................... 57 Summary of the visits: Bugesera ......................................................................... 57

9.6

Questionnaire: small-scale farming ........................................................................ 59

9.7

Questionnaire: large-scale farming ......................................................................... 64

9.8

Experiments .......................................................................................................... 69

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List with abbreviations BSF = Black Soldier Fly BSFf = Black Soldier Fly farming BSFL = Black Soldier Fly Larvae BSFs = Black Soldier Flies CBA = Cost-Benefit Analysis PPP = People Planet Profit RS = Rwanda Standard RSB = Rwanda Standards Board SDG’s = Sustainable Development Goals VC = Value chain VSF = Vétérinaires Sans Frontières

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1. Introduction This paper will assess how sustainable and profitable Black Soldier Fly farming (BSFf) is for both small- and large-scale farmers in Rwanda and how it can be optimized. BSFf has advantages that align well with the challenges faced by Rwandese animal farmers. First, the sustainability of BSFf in Rwanda will be assessed and then, the profitability will be calculated. A tool has been developed to assist farmers in calculating the profitability themselves, and thereby encouraging them to start with BSFf (or supporting those already operational). For the first two clusters, our calculations will be done separately for small-scale and large-scale farmers. Based on our profitability and sustainability analyses, advice is given on how to farm Black Soldier Flies (BSFs) as sustainably and profitably as possible within the scope of the parameters investigated. With this advice we hope to help farmers in their journey of BSFf. The methodology will be explained within each cluster.

Small-scale farmers: produce for their own use and have less resources. They use simple equipment.

Large-scale farmers: have a large production facility and own advanced machinery.

To get a proper understanding of Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwandese context, three different starting locations in Rwanda were visited. These places where: Kamonyi (Southern Province, close to Kigali), Nyagatare (Eastern Province, close to Uganda) and Busogo (Northern Province, close to Goma, Congo). From there, farm visits were arranged. The visited large-scale farmers for this paper are the company Abusol Ltd and the Walker farm, both south of Kigali.

Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (VSF) educated up to 180 Rwandan farmers of which 102 female farmers in the practice of BSFf during the past couple of years. (Newsletter of the Belgian Cooperation in and with Rwanda, 2022). Their objective was to teach them the whole process up to the point they were able to feed their animals these BSF-derived proteins, particularly in a context of rising prices for conventional proteins. Thanks to VSF, we had the opportunity to visit some of these small-scale farms and gather a lot of information on their way of working.

1.1 The Black Soldier Fly Hermetia illucens, commonly known as the Black Soldier Fly (BSF), originates from South America. Nowadays, it can be found in all tropical temperate climates. They are not considered to be an invasive species. A benefit of Black Soldier Flies (BSFs) is the fact that they cannot transmit diseases due to the absence of a mouth (THE BLACK SOLDIER FLY: THE STAR OF INSECT FARMING, 2021). BSFs have a small black body that is approximately two centimetres long and they have white legs (INAGRO, 2023).

It is not the fly itself that can be useful in livestock farming, but its larvae. The dried larvae contain a lot of proteins (between 35% and 45%) and fats (between 15% and 49%), making them very valuable for animal feed. Additionally, they find application in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and the production of bio-diesel (INAGRO, 2023).

The lifecycle of the BSF takes around 34 days, which makes farming them very time efficient.

Under favourable conditions, BSFs mate just two days after emerging from the larvae, and after two more days, they lay their eggs. A female can produce up to 1000 eggs. After approximately three days, the eggs hatch and the larval stage can begin. During this stage, they eat as much as

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they can, which causes them to double their weight almost daily. The food they eat can be any organic waste or animal manure. Subsequentially, the larvae enter the prepupal stage. They do not eat anymore and are ready to be harvested (INAGRO, 2023).

Figure 1: BSF lifecycle

The lifecycle of the BSF takes around 34 days, which makes farming them very time efficient.

Under favourable conditions, BSFs mate just two days after emerging from the larvae, and after two more days, they lay their eggs. A female can produce up to 1000 eggs. After approximately three days, the eggs hatch and the larval stage can begin. During this stage, they eat as much as they can, which causes them to double their weight almost daily. The food they eat can be any organic waste or animal manure. Subsequentially, the larvae enter the prepupal stage. They do not eat anymore and are ready to be harvested (INAGRO, 2023).

1.2 Rwandan context This research focusses specifically on the Rwandan context. Rwanda is located in East-Africa bordering to Congo-Kinshasa, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi. Rwanda is a developing country, but is growing fast. However, people are generally poor in comparison to Europeans and a lot of practices are still in the early stages. Rwanda is a small country with a high population rate. The majority of the population is living in a rural setting and they rely mainly on agriculture for their livelihood and income. Despite the widespread agricultural activity, malnutrition is a problem (Rwanda, sd).

1.3 Why choose Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda?

Considering that Rwanda is a developing country, it is important to include and empower the poor.

A lot of farmers have some livestock farming activity to supplement the crops they grow, but they are struggling with the high cost of animal feed. The process of Black Soldier Fly farming (BSFf) does not take a lot of effort and is low-budget. Farmers can reduce their expenses on animal feed by producing their own BSFs. It offers the possibility of quickly and efficiently growing highly nutritious animal feed that does not compete with the limited resources available or human food - BSFs do not require crops, but just the waste. The organic waste from the farm can be used as Huys, L. and Vints, L.

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feed for the larvae. The BSF larvae can then directly be used as feed for the pigs or chickens on the farm, resulting in a circular process. They serve as a good source of protein and fat. This way, the use of expensive protein sources such as soy and fish meal, and fat sources such as sunflower seeds, can be reduced or avoided. Livestock needs proteins to be able to grow healthy, for maintenance and reproduction. Fats are required in small amounts as energy source and for insulation (Pathak, 2020). Additionally, BSF production requires considerably less land and water compared to soy cultivation. This is very convenient as Rwanda is struggling with overpopulation and lack of free space. Moreover, Rwanda also has the right climate for BSFf, with year-round average daytime maximum temperatures around 27 degrees Celsius.

In its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations has adopted seventeen world Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) with the aim of achieving “peace and prosperity for people and the planet” (THE SDGS IN ACTION., n.d.). In countries like Rwanda, BSF farming can contribute to achieving numerous SDG’s: no poverty (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), good health and wellbeing (SDG 3), gender equality (SDG 5), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), climate action (SDG 13), life on land (SDG 15) and partnership for the goals (SDG 17).

All these SDG’s are relevant to the BSFf process.

Figure 2: SDG's (THE SDGS IN ACTION., n.d.)

2. General information This section provides important background information to understand BSFf in its entirety and gives insight into its importance, benefits and limitations.

2.1 Process of Black Soldier Fly farming (BSFf) To better understand the lifecycle of BSFs, the whole farming process is described. There are different ways and techniques to farm the Black Soldier Flies (BSFs). Here, the method taught by Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (VSF) to the small-scale farmers is described.

BSFf can take place in a confined space in the farmer’s backyard (VSF). The whole lifecycle of the BSF takes around 34 days, highly depending on the temperature and moisture levels. When the conditions are unfavourable, the cycle can last multiple months.

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To start the process of Black Soldier Fly farming, a batch of BSF eggs or larvae is needed. These eggs or larvae are placed on a food source, typically consisting of maize bran and water. Maize bran is a waste product from maize flour production. In general, most farmers use a mix of 1 kg maize bran and 1 l water. Depending on the season and climate, the amount of water needed may vary. The eggs can be placed directly on the food or indirectly. The latter means they are put on a net stretched above the food source. The farmers aim to place ten grams of eggs on one kilogram of feed. After approximately four days, the eggs will hatch and the larvae can immediately start eating the feed.

Figure 3: Maize bran mix with small larvae

When five to seven more days have passed, the larvae are big enough to be placed in boxes with substrate together with what remains of their feed. This is called batching. For this substrate, maize bran, manure and/or market waste are often used. The actual mix depends on availability and circumstances. These boxes with larvae are then placed in a dark environment, which is sometimes in a separate room. In this phase, some farmers decide which larvae will be used for reproduction. They get more and higher quality feed, such as fruit and juicy vegetables, in order for them to become bigger and stronger. The larvae grow rapidly and produce their own heat, which can cause the boxes to heat up to 40 degrees Celsius. Ten to fifteen days after being placed in the boxes on substrate, the larvae have eaten enough (they stop eating when entering the prepupal phase) and are ready to be harvested. This can be recognized through the substrate becoming dehydrated and the temperature cooling down.

Figure 4: Substrate

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Figure 5: Batched larvae

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Harvesting is separating the larvae from the substrate for further processing. For this step, different techniques are used: •

One method is placing a plastic bag or sheet in the container underneath the substrate.

Most larvae automatically place themselves under the bag once they are done eating and ready to pupate. This makes harvesting easy. The remaining ones have to be picked by hand.

Figure 6: Plastic sheet placed under substrate

•

Some farmers pick all the larvae by hand without using the plastic sheet. The larvae tend to huddle together.

Figure 7: Handpicking technique

•

Another method uses attraction: a bowl containing a bit of oil or sauce is placed in the middle of the box full with larvae. The larvae will be drawn by the smell and get trapped in the bowl.

Figure 8: Attraction technique

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A more efficient method uses two sieves. The mesh of the first sieve has bigger holes, where most of the substrate and larvae fall through. This way, the biggest chucks of substrate are taken out. Afterwards, the remainder goes through a sieve with small holes.

Here the substrate passes through and the larvae are left behind on the sieve.

Figure 9: Sieve

The larvae that are not kept for reproduction, are used for the production of livestock feed. To preserve these larvae, they are dried. A commonly used approach in Rwanda for this purpose is sun drying. The larvae are first fried for typically five to ten minutes (up to 30 minutes). This can also be substituted with blanching for five minutes. Afterwards, they are placed in the sun for about three days, depending on the weather, until fully dried.

Figure 10: Larvae being fried

Figure 11: Dried larvae

Once fully dried, the larvae are ready to be given as feed for other animals such as pigs and chickens. It is preferable to first crush the dried larvae so they can be mixed more easily with other feeding materials. The crushing machine for the larvae is very expensive and therefore not often used. Dried larvae can also be manually crushed or given as a whole.

Some larvae are kept separate to start the reproductive cycle again. They remain on the substrate in order for them to develop into prepupae. Twelve to eighteen days after the larvae were placed in boxes with substrate, the first prepupae are to be found. The prepupae can be recognized by their black colour. When they stop moving around, they have become pupae. In this phase, they should be placed in a darkened room. After approximately one to two weeks, the flies emerge. A setup that can be used to imitate this dark room, is a dark space underneath the fly cage, with a hole connecting both spaces. This way the flies will be attracted to the light when they emerge, and reach the fly cage.

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Figure 12: Pupae

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Figure 13: Hole in fly cage

Lastly, new eggs are needed. In order for the flies to mate, a light source needs to be present. Two days after becoming flies, the BSFs are ready to mate. Two days after mating, the female flies search for a good place to lay their eggs. To be able to have some control over where the eggs are laid, the flies can be lured to a designed egg holder placed on a smelly substance. This egg holder preferably has a lot of cracks. One method to achieve this is by stacking wooden boards in a manner that creates small gaps or openings. The eggs can easily be harvested by scrapping them off the wooden boards. They are then placed on the maize bran mix and after three days the eggs become larvae. The BSF farming process can then be restarted.

Figure 14: Light source

Figure 15: Egg-laying place

Figure 16: Wooden board with eggs

2.2 Nutrients As mentioned before, BSFs can be used as a valuable protein source in animal feed. But how much protein do BSF larvae contain? How much protein does conventional feed contain in comparison? This section will discuss the differences between BSF and other protein sources such as soybean and fish meal.

BSF larvae (BSFL) are rich in nutrients such as protein (containing high quality amino acids), minerals and fats. The larvae and pupae contain the most nutrients. On average, 1 kg of BSF larvae contains 414,7 g of crude protein. In comparison, soybean contains 494,4 g of protein per kg, while fish meal contains 675,3 g of protein per kg. Additionally, BSFL protein also consists of a rich amino acid profile. Defatted larvae have a much higher protein content (655 g/kg) compared to full-fat larvae. In full-fat larvae, the fat content is on average 352,2 g/kg which is much higher than in soyabean and fish meal. Even when the larvae are defatted, the fat content, 69,2 g/kg, is still Huys, L. and Vints, L.

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higher than the alternatives (Cohen, 2022). The larvae produced by the small-scale farmers in Rwanda are not defatted due to lack of equipment. A machine that can be used for this is an oil extractor machine (Physical properties of defatted and extruded black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae-based aqua-feed using a twin-screw extruder, 2023).

Researchers found that using full-fat larvae in livestock farming has noticeable negative consequences. As the percentage of conventional feed replaced with full-fat BSF increases, the daily feed intake decreases. This means that animals require less feed to meet their energy needs.

This results however in reduced carcass weight and muscle weight. In addition, abdominal fat deposits were increased (Cohen, 2022). A lot of other conclusions were made, but we will not dive deeper into this topic because it is not the focus of this paper. Exploring practical methods for defatting BSFL could be valuable for follow-up projects.

2.3 Value chain of Black Soldier Fly farming A value chain approach can help understanding and contextualizing the BSF processes. To fully understand BSF farming in all its aspects, it is important to describe the structure and dynamics of the whole value chain and its actors.

Rwanda is on the United Nations list of least developed countries. There are different social classes and a big part of the population is poor or even very poor. More specifically, almost half of the population is classified as poor and another 23% is counted vulnerable to poverty (UNDP, 2023). This poor population mostly works in agriculture. When setting up and optimizing a value chain (VC) that is associated with agriculture, it is crucial in a country like Rwanda to make it sustainable and pro-poor. This approach will also contribute to a viable future for this VC. To ensure the right group is taken into account within this VC, our BSF project has identified a specific target group: Target group: The poor population for whom agriculture is the main or only source of livelihood and income. Small-scale farmers, including women, and their household.

To ensure that BSF farming is pro-poor, our questions to calculate the sustainability of this value chain were formulated with a pro-poor perspective, taking our determined target group into account. This approach defines a sustainable and pro-poor value chain for our project.

The following definitions are used and give a better understanding of what a value chain exactly is: Value chain: “A value chain is a vertical alliance of stakeholders and enterprises collaborating to various degrees along the range of activities required to bring a product from the initial input supply stage, through the various phases of production, to its final market destination.” (IFAD, 2020) Pro-poor value chain: “A pro-poor value chain intervention promotes the inclusion and empowerment of poor people in value chains with a view to increasing their income and wellbeing and addressing constraints in a coordinated sustainable manner. (…) the objective is to design and implement interventions that can empower them and improve their position in a more sustainable manner.” (IFAD, 2020)

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Value chain approach: “A value chain approach is based on a comprehensive analysis of the entire commodity chain, from producers to end-market consumers. Inherent in the value chain approach is acknowledging that there are other stakeholders in the chain (in addition to the IFAD target group) and that they are interrelated.” (IFAD, 2020)

2.3.1 Value chain mapping The process of understanding the BSF VC includes three main aspects: discovering the VC elements, mapping all stakeholders and identifying the main causes of underperformance. The VC elements include the full range of VC actors, input and service providers, the enabling environment and the natural environment. The stakeholders will be analysed by looking at their behaviour, interactions and dimensions (volumes, numbers and values) (IFAD, 2020).

2.3.1.1 Value chain elements The first step is to define all the VC elements. Both primary and secondary activities are taken into account.

Elements Actors Input provider Service provider Enabling environment Natural environment Primary activities

Secondary activities

BSF farmer, household, market vendor, maize seller, water provider (if no available rainwater) The farmer, local market, maize factory Employees, water provider (if no available rainwater) Rain for water, own livestock for manure Mountains/hills, forests, grasslands, temperate to tropical climate Buying maize bran, harvesting eggs, preparing maize mix for eggs, gathering/buying substrate, preparing substrate for larvae, harvesting larvae, letting larvae pop to flies, feeding BSF to livestock, cleaning cages and materials, raising chickens and/or pigs, selling Keeping track of data, transporting maize and substrate to farm, collecting fruit and vegetable waste, fertilizing crops with rest waste, sharing knowledge with other farmers

Table 1: Value chain elements

2.3.1.2 Stakeholders For the second part of VC mapping, the stakeholders are analysed. This shows the relationship between the stakeholders and the BSF farmer and identifies those stakeholders having the most influence in the VC. To be certain it is pro-poor, the VC should be in the best interest of the BSF farmer, although they might not have the biggest influence.

The figure below shows the relationship and importance between the stakeholders and the BSF farmer. The stakeholders in the right upper corner in the figure above, are identified as the most important. They should be managed closely.

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Figure 17: Stakeholder analyses

Stakeholder explanation: •

•

• •

•

•

• •

Government: The government has the power to decide which laws regarding BSF should be implemented. They can have a lot of power, for example by setting rules and regulations that affect the farmer and other stakeholders in the VC. Other BSF farmers: If other BSF farmers achieve higher production, lower costs or sell BSF, they have more power compared to the farmer. They also have a high interest in the techniques and production of the farmer.

VSF: They provide equipment and information. They mainly possess power in the setup phase of BSF farming. In later stages, their power vanishes.

Village/community: They do not have a big influence on the small-scale farmer himself as the BSF farming takes place on the farmer’s own property and doesn’t use community resources.

Market vendors: There are a lot of sources for market waste sources, which is mostly seen as just waste, so market vendors do not have a lot of power but it is interesting for them to have an extra customer. There is a lot more market waste available than what the BSF VC’s currently need.

Maize bran provider: There are a lot of maize factories producing maize flour, with the bran as a waste product. This implies they don’t have a lot of power but it is interesting for them to have an extra customer.

Employees of the BSF farmer: They should be kept informed. They don’t have power because of the large number of candidates for the jobs available.

Customers: If a farmer wants to sell dried larvae or living larvae, it is important to keep his customers informed. Currently, there are only few farmers selling BSF, which means potential customers have limited buying options and thus little bargaining power.

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2.3.2 Summary The following figure is a summary of all steps above.

Figure 18: BSF value chain

2.4 Legislation, laws and policies To determine possible recommendations regarding BSFf in the Rwandan context, we have to examine whether any legislations, laws and policies impact the VC. Since BSFf and insect farming are relatively new, there is limited information available on this subject.

Rwandan law has established certain authorities with the power to make laws related to their respective areas of expertise. Examples of this are the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) and the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (FDA). None of these authorities have written any laws directly related to what is allowed in animal feed or about insect farming.

2.4.1 Rwanda Standards Board The Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) is a governmental institution with the mission of providing standardization, certification and testing services for trade promotion and consumer protection.

They have developed more than 2.390 standards, of which a number are related to several different topics relevant for food, agriculture, water and environment. RSB’s services are internationally recognised and their quality management system is ISO 9001 certified. (RSB, sd)

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The use of standardization is important since it helps the improvement of technological progress, health, safety, environmental protection, quality promotion, productivity and trade promotion.

Standards are not obligatory: only those farmers who want to be accredited in order to earn credibility have to follow these provisions. In practice this only makes sense for large-scale operations that have substantial sales of their products.

RSB has developed three standards that can be applied to BSF farming. The first one is Rwanda Standard (RS) 98:”Animal feed production, processing, storage and distribution – Code of practice”. This standard is not specifically intended for BSFf, but concerns animal feed in general.

It states among other things, that the production site is not allowed to be close to industrial operations that can create pollutants. It also mentions that manure should be stored in the correct way to avoid contamination and records should be kept to help investigations in case of contaminations of the food chain (DRS 98 Animal feed production, processing, storage and distribution - Code of practice , 2020).

RS 485: “Production and handling of edible insects for food and feed - Code of practice”, is a very relevant standard for BSFf. It specifies the requirements for sustainable insect production. One of the obligations herein explained relates to the competence of personnel involved in handling insects. Good farming practices are also described for all stages of insect farming. Furthermore, it emphasises the importance of well documenting the whole process (DRS 485 Production and handling of edible insects for food and feed - Code of practice, 2021).

To see if BSFs, whole or as flour, could be used in human food it can be tested against the parameter requirements outlined in RS 487, for example microbiological limits and heavy metals.

This standard is named: ‘Edible insect products — Specification Part 1: Whole insect and edible insect flour.’ The methods for sampling, testing and labelling are mentioned in this standard (DRS 487 Edible insect products — Specification Part 1: Whole insect and edible insect flour, 2021).

3. Sustainability cluster 3.1 Methodology Sustainability is a broad term used in a lot of different contexts. To avoid confusion the following definition by the United Nations will form the foundation of this research section.

Sustainability: “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Sustainability, n.d.).

Meeting these needs requires a balance between social, economic and environmental topics.

These form the basis for the PPP structure: People, Planet and Profit. The concept of a “Triple Bottom Line” is a situation within an organisation, where the balance between the PPP is found.

Therefore this PPP structure lies at the basis of this research. The title “Environment, Society and Economy” has the same meaning: it can be used as a synonym for PPP. The social part implies that a sustainable company is a company that cares for and contributes to society. A socially sustainable organization improves the lives and living conditions of its own employees and those of its value chain. The environmental part stands for no negative impact on the environment and the planet. A sustainable organization is future-proof and makes sure it does not contribute to environmental problems and preferably even helps solving them. Lasty, the economic part of PPP implies that a viable organization needs to maintain a healthy financial

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position, which is necessary to contribute to welfare and having the capability of achieving its other sustainability targets (The 3 Ps of sustainability, n.d.).

Due to the unique Rwandese context outlined in section 1 and 2.3 of this document, we considered it important to tailor the PPP structure to be more specific to Rwanda. As a result, some topics were specifically highlighted from the broader range of topics that fit under PPP such as food security and partnership. To assess if a value chain (VC) or process is sustainable in Rwandese context, it needs to be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable at minimum and it needs to ensure food security and encourage partnerships. To determine if the process of Black Soldier Fly farming with all its elements aligns with these requirements, each element of the process is evaluated using a rating system consisting of three phases as explained below.

3.1.1 Rating phases In phase one of the rating system, questions related to all criteria defined in the previous section were prepared. All questions are put within the PPP context. Some questions needed to be answered by doing literature research, and others by interviewing BSF farmers. These BSF farmers included both small-scale operations and large-scale businesses. Additionally, information was gained by engaging in BSF farming ourselves and consulting experts. The purpose of these questions is to get a better view on the insights of the whole VC and all the actors involved. This way, a relatively objective opinion about the BSFf in the context of PPP can be formed.

After collecting the required data, we proceeded with analysing and scoring the sustainability of the different aspects of BSFf on a scale from 0-5. This gives a good overview of the whole process in a sustainability context. As sustainability is not an exact science, different interpretations of the data can be made.

During the third phase, the differences between small-scale and large-scale farming were investigated. The answers to the various questions vary significantly depending on the size of the farm and therefore affecting the sustainability score accordingly.

3.2 Results This section will present the answer to the questions; the list of questions can be found in appendices 10.5 and 10.6. The purpose of these questions is to determine the sustainability of BSF farming in Rwanda. The scores on all sustainability questions, for both small- and large-scale farmers, are listed alongside the questions in the appendices. Most information is gained from the farm visits.

The table below gives the average score for each specific partial cluster. The score is a number on a scale from 0-5. 5 means very sustainable, 0 means not sustainable at all. The score is given based on an estimated, average situation. All farmers have their own unique situation and techniques influencing the sustainability score.

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Economical Environmental Social Partnership Food security Total

Small-scale 2,9/5 3,5/5 2,1/5 2,3/5 3,1/5 2,8/5

2023-2024 Large-scale 2,8/5 3,5/5 2,4/5 2,2/5 3,1/5 2,8/5

Table 2: Summary sustainability

3.2.1 Economical Market For the viability of a company, it is important to have a market for its products and to create a customer demand for them. The BSF market in Rwanda is a nascent market. On a small scale, there is no significant demand yet. It is however possible for small-scale farmers to sell BSF products to mainly small-scale animal farmers, but this only happens to a limited extent. For large-scale farmers on the other hand, a greater demand is already present. BSFs can be sold to a variety of customers. Not only the dried larvae can be sold as animal feed, also the frass (remaining, digested organic waste) can be sold as fertilizer. Living larvae, both big and small can be sold as starting population for BSF farmers or as fish feed. One of the small-scale farmers we visited explained that she could sell the small larvae for 8.000 RWF per kilogram. Walkers farm on the other hand, explained that he could sell small larvae for 3.000 RWF per gram, living larvae for 2.000 RWF per kilogram and fertilizer for 700 RWF per kilogram. There definitely are opportunities to further expand this market. Once BSF and its advantages will be better known, demand will likely increase for both small- and large-scale farmers.

At this moment, there is no information available about the exportation of BSF products. For this reason, it can be assumed that all the BSF products are currently sold exclusively for local use.

The small-scale farmers mostly use BSF on their own farms. Large-scale farmers appear to solely sell to Rwandese companies and customers. As BSF farming scales up adequately in Rwanda, the opportunities for exporting will increase, potentially enabling BSF to expand to international markets.

Starting populations of BSF could best be sold to countries with the same climate. The dried larvae that serve as animal feed, on the other hand, could be sold globally because climate plays no role in the usefulness of animal feed. Dried BSF larvae from small or large animal feed producers, either whole or as powder, could also be an interesting ingredient in processed animal feed products. Expanding to international markets in general will mainly be interesting for largescale farmers. For small-scale farmers the best way forward is probably the creation of regional agricultural co-op organizations that handle the marketing activities of a group of local farmers.

An as-yet unexplored market is that of human consumption of BSF larvae products, but this will require more research into their edibility first.

Efficiency Once the farmer has the financial ability to buy bigger machinery, such as a drying machine and a crushing machine, the efficiency can be increased i.e. he/she would be able to process more and/or larger batches of BSF larvae. Both small- and large-scale farmers have the opportunity to scale up and thereby improving efficiency.

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When examining the current volumes of BSF production, it seems that all harvested larvae can be used for animal feed; there is no excess production compared to the demand. Production losses i.e. larvae that cannot be harvested, are relatively minor. Accordingly, the volume of consumption closely aligns with the volume of production.

When considering the quantity of BSFL that the current farm animal population could consume, it is difficult to farm enough to meet the demand, especially on large-scale farms.

The costs for BSFf will be discussed in more detail later on in this paper. Looking at the costs of BSFf, it can be concluded that they are relatively low. A starting capital is needed to finance essential investments, for example a fly cage, jerrycans… Although the costs for BSF farming are not very high, the costs for equipment can still be reduced easily, e.g. by using a wooden fly cage instead of a metal one. Throughout the BSF life cycle, the biggest expense is feed for the larvae.

Small-scale farmers can reduce this cost by only using feed available on their own farm, such as animal manure and waste from food or crops. Additionally, maize bran could potentially be produced on the farm itself rather than being purchased from a maize flour factory. For large-scale farmers, the cost of feed per production batch will be higher due to the necessity of sourcing large quantities externally.

Value chain and actors The small-scale farmers typically don not engage in the national and international markets. The most vulnerable aspect of this VC for small-scale farmers is buying feed like maize bran. All other larvae feed can easily be supplied by the farmer themselves. However, if there are disruptions in the maize market, such as a particularly bad harvest, leading to maize bran becoming more expensive, it would not only be difficult for small-scale farmers to feed the BSFs, it would also be challenging to feed the other animals on the farm, since maize bran is a part of their diet. Largescale farmers might face the same vulnerability but also deal with fluctuations in prices for food waste from restaurants, hotels and markets. We see that the profitability depends on the prices of alternative protein sources for feed. If the prices for soybean and fish meal decrease, the advantages of BSF farming also diminish to some extent.

When looking at resistance against logistical risks (e.g. roads becoming impassable during the rainy season), small-scale farmers do not face significant vulnerability in this regard. This is because they do not use a lot of transport related to BSFf – most of their feed comes from their own farm, and the majority of the finished products is consumed there as well. Large-scale farmers on the other hand, have a significant need for input of feed and output of finished products from and to the company. Hence, the logistical risks are greater for them. The resilience of a farm against such risks depends on the individual circumstances.

For small-scale farmers, their interactions are limited to a local maize bran seller, and optionally a market waste collector. Other value chain stages, notably production of most of the feed for the larvae, as well as consumption of the finished ground larvae, occur within the farm itself. This limited interaction reduces their exposure to external risk factors. In contrast, large-scale farmers involve more actors in obtaining the larvae feed and utilizing the finished products, making them more dependent on others. This leads to increased complexity in risk management for large-scale farmers.

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Generally, there is insufficient knowledge about BSFf within the community and among other actors. During company visits, it became clear to us that companies are reluctant to openly share information about their work. They aim to maintain a competitive edge with innovative methods and techniques. They do not trust visitors and perceive them as a threat to their business. Some require payment for visits to discourage visitors. Their main goal is to make money – sharing information is often considered unnecessary or conflicting with this goal. However, small-scale farmers appear to communicate more with other small-scale farmers to exchange ideas. Through such collaborative dialogue, they can enhance productivity in a mutually beneficial manner.

There is not a lot of information about the trust among the actors. It can be assumed that the trust is average.

Not all actors are equally involved in the governance of BSFf. Actors such as maize bran or market waste vendors typically only influence the price of their products. Once sold to the farmer, these vendors no longer have a say in the governance of the farmer’s business. Primarily, it is the farmer alone who decides how to manage his/her activities in BSF farming.

Because BSF farming is still relatively new in the Rwandan market, there is no control system developed yet to oversee aspects such as quality and hygiene of the product, workplace conditions, fair competition rules etc. The absence of a control system, coupled with the small number of market players, limits the current market influence of BSF farming. However, this is likely to change over time as BSF farming becomes a more important economic activity in the Rwandan market.

Competitive advantages The cost of BSF larvae as protein source for animal feed is much lower compared to other protein sources like soybean and fish meal. In 2022, the price for soybean increased from 865 to around 1.000 RWF/kg (Newsletter of the Belgian Cooperation in and with Rwanda, 2022). This makes BSFf more interesting for farmers.

One of the advantages of BSF farming compared to other insects is their relatively short life cycle.

This allows for a rapid production of a new generation of larvae that can be fed to the farm animals.

Besides the short life cycle, BSF larvae are not very selective about their food, making them effective organic waste processors. Compared to soybean and fish meal, the biggest advantage is the fact that you can farm BSF yourself very easily. BSFs consists of a high amount of protein per kilogram. Lastly, BSFs do not compete for crops intended for human consumption. Soybean and fish meal can also be consumed by humans, leading to higher prices for these commodities.

It is not very easy to add value to BSF. As discussed before, with more research, BSF could potentially be used for human consumption. This would add value to the product, but acceptance among the local community is uncertain. Moreover, if BSF were to be used for human consumption, the rules for BSF faming would undoubtedly become stricter. For instance, using manure as feed for the larvae might no longer be allowed, and even food waste and organic market waste might be forbidden or restricted. It is not so easy to estimate if the benefit to small-scale BSF farmers from a new revenue source through human consumption would outweigh the increased production costs associated with switching to more regulated feed for the larvae.

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Money Later in this paper, the specific profitability of BSFf will be discussed. It can be concluded that BSFf is economically and financially viable. There is limited starting capital required, profit can be generated and money can be saved easily. The most important hurdle for a farmer is acquiring the starting capital.

In Rwanda, there are opportunities to secure a loan if a farmer lacks the starting capital, but the interest rates range between 16,5 and 18%. Additionally, some requirements need to be met to qualify for a business loan (Business loan , sd). These two factors make it difficult for poor smallscale farmers to begin with BSF farming. Large-scale farmers may have more capital available. All the large-scale farmers visited, started from another business activity before expanding into farming BSF. When considering the necessary materials, the basic equipment for both small- and large-scale farmers is easily accessible. However, for more advanced machinery such as drying and crushing machines, it seems to be very difficult to find a supplier. This may make these machines even more expensive and difficult to purchase. As Walker Farm mentioned, a drying machine costs around 1,5 million RWF. There are some public investments in BSF farming by organizations like VSF, alongside private investments made by the farmers themselves. Due to the lack of knowledge, there have not been many investments in general, but the interest is rising. In the private sector, investments are primarily seen within large-scale farms.

Score: Market Efficiency Value chain and actors Competitive advantages Money Average score

Small-scale 0,9 3,9 3,8 3,3 2,3 2,9/5

Large-scale 2 3,5 2,5 3,3 3 2,8/5

Table 3: Score economical

3.2.2 Environmental Resources The natural resources used for BSFf are low value organic materials such as kitchen left-overs, market waste and manure. These resources are upcycled by the BSF process into a protein source for animals and even the substrate leftover after harvesting, can be used as fertilizer. However, the use of food waste creates competition with bioenergy production (G. Bosch, 2019). Other resources used are maize bran and water. While maize bran is highly desired for animal feed, it does not compete with human food production. Farmers use rainwater, which is plentiful in Rwanda. It can be concluded that in general low quality natural resources can be used. However, in Europe, it is not allowed to feed livestock with BSF who fed on waste or manure. Instead, substrate such as beet pulp and sorghum, which have a higher value, are used (G. Bosch, 2019).

Currently, Rwanda does not have such legislation, but that could change in the future.

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Furthermore it can be said that the resources required are easily available. Given that a significant portion of the Rwandan economy relies on agriculture, manure is sufficiently available. Most small-scale BSF farmers use manure produced by their own livestock as substrate for the BSF and eliminate thereby the need for transportation. The Rwandan population also consumes a lot of maize, which is grown and processed locally, creating an easy source for the maize bran, again with limited need for transportation. The prices for maize bran are however relatively high as it is a valued ingredient in animal feed production. Market waste is easily available as well. Fresh unprocessed fruits and vegetables are hard to preserve in Rwandese temperatures. Once spoiled, this market waste is then collected and transported to the farm. For small-scale farmers, this is mostly done by bicycle, which is environmentally friendly, but labour-intensive. Large-scale farmers often need substantial amounts of substrate, which makes it a bit harder. They typically need multiple suppliers who are often located further away. Therefore transportation by car or truck is frequently used. However, there are various alternative substrates available, making it easy to find alternatives if one source is unavailable.

Resilience Small-scale farmers typically dry the larvae by placing them outside in the sun for a couple of days, after boiling or frying them. This method allows the larvae to become completely dry. The challenge with this technique is that it heavily relies on the sun. During long periods of heavy rainfall, it is impossible to dry the larvae without advanced equipment. Some large-scale farmers have a drying machine, which is very expensive but can dry the larvae in just 30 minutes. This eliminates dependence on the weather.

Another weather-related challenge is the temperature. In some parts of Rwanda, such as Nyagatare, it is often too hot for optimal production of BSF. When the substrate becomes too warm, the larvae will try to escape the box looking for a cooler place. Because of this, they stop eating (Holtermans, 2022). This can be prevented by spraying water on the boxes, but this is not always sufficient. On the other hand, it can also be too cold for the larvae, as is the case in Kisaro.

When the temperatures are low, the larvae’s metabolism decreases, leading to reduced consumption and slower growth and development (Holtermans, 2022). Farmers try to prevent this by using the heat from coals or by making a fire in the room.

As described, the main challenge for BSF related to climate change is the temperature. Too hot or too cold temperatures negatively affect the productivity. Besides that, BSFs are relatively resistant to other effects of climate change. For example, they do not rely on big areas of land, making them less vulnerable to floods, storms or droughts.

To date, there is very little knowledge about the immunity of BSF to biological risks. Yet, no major outbreaks of diseases in BSF production faculties have been reported (Lotte Joosten, 2020). BSFs live in an environment with very high microbial load, but they grow fast and have an active immune system. Nevertheless, it is probable that BSFs will not remain resistant to pathogens forever (Lecocq, 2023).

When farming BSF, you also have to be aware of other insects in the substrate. House flies, for instance, can outcompete BSFL if the larvae are introduced into the substrate at an early stage (Chelsea D. Miranda, 2019). Another thing to be wary of is ants, mice or birds attacking the larvae.

Birds like to eat the harvested larvae or dead flies, and ants can come and kill all flies and larvae.

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Figure 19: Ants attacking

Efficiency During the BSFf process, most farmers do not use electricity. They use the sun as a natural light source by making a part of the roof out of transparent material. As mentioned before, they make a fire for heating the building. Small-scale farmers do everything manually, leading to no electricity use at all. Large-scale farmers have some machinery, such as a grinding or drying machine that use electricity. However, the electricity used for these machines is currently not from renewable resources.

Figure 20: Light source

All water used is captured rainwater and is only used in small amounts.

Additionally, the process of farming BSF does not generate much waste. The only waste comes from small acts such as the use of gloves, strings or transporting bags. Moreover, it is even a system to manage waste since the BSFL feed on waste. The remaining of the substrate is either used as fertilizer or being composted.

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Other impacts The mass production of black soldier flies causes a significant loss in genetic diversity in the species in the long run, compared to wild BSF. Diversity loss can result in a reduction of fitness and productivity. Addressing this requires good mating systems and selective breeding (Lelanie Hoffmann, 2021). BSF do not have a negative impact on the surrounding ecosystems, because they are no disease vectors. They also do not sting or bite as the mature flies don’t eat.

Furthermore they are not known as a pest, since BSF do not feed on living plants or stored produce. Overall, they do not have a destructive impact on agriculture, structures or human health. Using BSFL as protein source can even benefit ecosystems and biodiversity by replacing soy crops and thus mitigating negative impacts on biodiversity (econourish, sd).

The greenhouse gasses emitted during the BSF process are: methane, nitrous oxide, ammonia and carbon dioxide. The environmental impact strongly varies depending on which substrate is used. Research from Indonesia shows that composting biowaste has twice the Global Warming Potential of BSF farming (Adeline Mertenat, 2018). Growing BSF is thus more climate-friendly than allowing the available market waste to rot. Further reducing greenhouse gas emissions from BSF farming are however difficult and costly, as they involve measuring equipment and placement of sophisticated filters. The biggest environmental impacts come in case long-distance transport is needed and a lot of electricity is used, which is not generally the case in Rwanda. Small-scale farmers can completely avoid the use of electricity and remote transport by vehicle. This is not so easy for large-scale farmers, as explained before.

As described earlier, there is no legislation in place related to insect farming. Farmers and individuals involved in BSF farming are generally unaware of any applicable laws. There are, however, standards established by RSB (see section 2.4.1). These are not mandatory and also not interesting for small-scale farmers, as they would ask great effort for no advantage to them. For large-scale farmers on the other hand, these standards could be interesting to earn credibility and gain trust from customers.

Score: Resources Resistance Efficiency Other impacts Average score

Small- scale 4 3,2 4,8 2,7 3,5/5

Large-scale 3,5 3,8 4,2 2,7 3,5/5

Table 4: Score environmental

3.2.3 Social Value chain support The governmental website of Rwanda explains how businesses can easily be registered. It also encourages both national and international entrepreneurs to invest in different sectors (Services , sd). Within the agricultural sector, they mention e.g. rearing poultry, cattle farming and milk processing (Investment opportunities, sd). The government also tries to help its citizens by having an agricultural market information system, Agriculture Land Information System, agricultural and

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livestock Certificate and more (Services , sd). BSFf or any related practices are not mentioned, reflecting a lack of knowledge on the topic and will result in limited investments and support from both public and private sector.

Despite the information available on the Rwandan governmental website, finding specific BSFrelated support services remains challenging. Besides the challenge of finding suitable support, farmers also struggle with other difficulties. A lot of poor, small-scale farmers, do not have the ability to use services provided by the government due to lack of technology and lack of knowledge about the possibilities. Owning a computer and having internet access are nonstandard. For an outsider, the amount of services provided seems limited, but Rwandan businesses are partly built on connections. This might make it easier to find the necessary support and inputs.

Help may also come from other quarters. Rwandan farmers had support from organizations like VSF and Enabel. They provided trainings and equipment in the past years. About 180 farmers have been able to start farming BSF thanks to the collaboration between VSF and Enabel. These farmers can reduce their costs and create job opportunities (Newsletter of the Belgian Cooperation in and with Rwanda, 2022). Also other organizations like Farm42 offered there help and knowledge on BSF farming. All of these initiatives were temporary projects and are now no longer active in Rwanda on BSF farming. There might be other organizations helping farmers to start BSFf but there is no information to be found on the internet.

In Uganda there are some support systems like “Ugavoil”, training women on how to work with BSF (Black soldier fly could offer a revolution for farming and waste management, 2024).

Organizations like this from neighbouring countries have the possibility to start investing in Rwandan agriculture as well, or they could inspire Rwandan entrepreneurs and farmers to start BSFf themselves. They highlight the need of providing resources such as land, training and finance (Black soldier fly could offer a revolution for farming and waste management, 2024). Support of the Rwandan government is needed. On a global scale, BSF farming is becoming more and more prominent.

The outlook for the future gives hope. One of the large-scale farmers we visited, Walker Farm, is planning to start a training centre on BSF. This would be very beneficial for the future of BSF farming in Rwanda.

Health For the employees, BSFf does not have high demands. The employee does not have to lift heavy items or do other hard physical labour. The farmer and the employees also do not need to have a high intellectual capacity. The work can be done by both men and women.

It seems that some farmers employ more workers during specific stages of the BSF cycle. For example, there is a lot of work while harvesting the larvae, but less work during other periods.

When looking per cycle, the working hours will be quite similar every time. This will result in a stable salary per cycle. According to the law, employees have the right to work in a healthy and safe environment. They also should receive equal salary for work of equal value. The employer should affiliate direct employees to the Rwanda Social Security Board for pension and occupational risks. Both collective as individual means need to be provided for specific protection. (REPUBLIC OF RWANDA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, 2019).

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It is recommended to monitor company hygiene. The equipment needs to be cleaned properly after use and in case of infection of the BSF, the installation needs to be sterilized (INAGRO, 2023).

There were no signs of these precautionary measures in most of the small farms but the largescale farmers sometimes do have a footbath before entering the room for bio-security. The circumstances witnessed during the farm visits were not always very optimal. Fires were often lit inside the room where farmers and their employees have to work entire days. These rooms were often poorly ventilated. They do not monitor the released gasses in the room and do not wear masks or other protective equipment. All this despite legal obligations to provide the needed protective equipment to prevent health damage (REPUBLIC OF RWANDA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, 2019). Basic protection like gloves when working with hot materials were nowhere used. All these factors create an unhealthy environment for both flies and people.

In addition to poor health protection, the working conditions on a BSF farm are not optimal.

Working on a BSF farm means being exposed to the same environment as the flies and larvae. This is a hot, smelly and humid environment, which is uncomfortable for workers.

Social groups BSFf is very accessible to all kinds of people, yet currently, few disadvantaged groups are participating in the BSF VC. BSF farming offers the opportunity to employ and empower women.

They can work across the whole agricultural value chain, from larvae harvesting to waste management, distribution and processing. By involving women throughout the whole value chain the local communities can be empowered, economic growth can be obtained, women’s economic empowerment increased and help achieving the SDG’s 5, 8, 12 and 13 (see section 1.3) (Black soldier fly could offer a revolution for farming and waste management, 2024). Besides VSF, who trained women for BSFf, there are no specific services for disadvantaged groups. The largescale farms visited did not get the support from VSF. They employ fewer or no women.

In Rwanda, men and women traditionally have different roles. When looking at labour, agricultural work is divided between men and women. Women do most of the daily farming activities, whereas men clear the land and break the soil. Men also perform heavy tasks around the house while women are responsible for raising children, cooking and maintaining the household (Rwanda, sd).

After talking to farmers, it can be concluded that women are perhaps better suited to manage the VC, although we did not see this in practice. The traditional role of men and women might make it more difficult to encourage farmers to start BSFf. By training both men and women, this difference will dissolve over time.

Greeting other people is an important aspect of Rwandan culture (Rwanda, sd). This might help with building relationships. When owning a business, making good connections is very important.

This way the value chain can be upgraded.

All social groups could participate in this VC, but not all social groups are participating yet.

Women's involvement remains limited, although organizations like VSF are actively encouraging their participation (Newsletter of the Belgian Cooperation in and with Rwanda, 2022). Starting BSFf requires initial capital for equipment. This means that it is not easy for the very poor to start BSFf independently. Right now, they are not always involved in the value chain. Sometimes some poor people can work for the farmer to help harvesting larvae or to do other jobs. If they get involved, it is mainly as employee.

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BSFf can help reduce poverty. By saving money due to the use of BSF instead of conventional animal feed, farmers can scale-up their activities and even make a profit.

In the past, there were some serious conflicts in Rwandan society. The scars of these conflicts are still present in today’s life, leading to distrust between actors. This lack of trust undermines sharing of information and knowledge. This will affect the VC. Due to the current and past sociopolitical situation in Rwanda, companies, farms, buildings… are often protected by a guard. Especially for large-scale farmers, this will often be the case. These guards are an additional expense for the farmers which will impact their income and thereby influence the VC. In case the president would make a decision related to BSF, there would be no possibility to resist.

Rwandan people do not interfere with decisions, even if they do not agree. Chances that a decision would affect BSF are small but, if so, they are not resistant. Wars, regionally or elsewhere in the world can affect BSF farming in Rwanda. The costs of materials and equipment might rise or some resources might not be available anymore. Once there would be legislations concerning BSF, this will also affect the VC of BSF.

Score: Value chain support Health Social groups Average score

Small-scale 1,4 2 2,5 2,1/5

Large-scale 2,2 2 2,6 2,4/5

Table 5: Score social

3.2.4 Partnership There are some collaborations between different value chains. There are for instance collaborations between the BSF farmer and the maize bran vendor or market waste vendor.

Establishing partnerships when farming BSF, could be very beneficial for all parties.

Collaborations can be formed with investors. This is beneficial for the farmer, since it makes investing possible. The investor can benefit by getting a share of the profit. Likewise, partnerships can be formed with substrate providers, they get rid of their waste, even make some money from it, and the farmers get their needed resource.

BSFf is very accessible for all social groups including women. At this moment however, not all social groups are included. There is still a long way to go before social groups like the really poor and women are significantly included. VSF tried to include women in their BSF project. BSF farming also has the purpose to save money, therefore it is interesting for farmers with less economical capacities to start BSFf. Unfortunately, the very poor do not have the financial capacity to start BSFf, but they can be included as employee or market waste vendors.

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At the moment there are no initiatives being taken to raise awareness among poor farmers about BSFf. In Rwanda not many people are familiar with to concept of farming BSF, this makes it even harder for the knowledge to reach the poor farmers.

Score: Average score

Small-scale 2,3/5

Large-scale 2,2/5

Table 6: Score partnership

3.2.5 Food security The resources used are mostly maize bran, organic waste, manure and rainwater. None of these could be used for human consumption. For animal consumption on the other hand, maize bran is highly demanded in Rwanda. Besides maize bran, pigs also eat organic waste. Rainwater can be used for animal farming as well, however, there is plenty of it in Rwanda. The amount of maize bran used for BSF farming is relatively small compared to its use for other animals.

BSFL are a nutritious feed. It contains proteins, high quality amino acids and more. To determine if the feed is completely safe, more research is necessary. At this moment, BSF is not yet used in food for human consumption. Before this can be the case, there is a need for clearly defined legal requirements on all relevant aspects of BSF farming.

Although BSF is not used for human consumption, it still has an indirect potential to improve nutritional value. Easy availability of proteins could enhance the quality and availability of meat.

Besides that, it can also result in improved food security and reduction of malnutrition, since less land needs to be taken for soja production for animal feed, making more land available to grow human food.

Furthermore, it is easy to farm BSF and really accessible for someone that is already a farmer of traditional crops and livestock. Once the initial investment is sorted, no other big expenses need to be made to keep the BSF farming activity operational. In addition, the farmer needs to acquire basic knowledge on the BSFf process, but this is not particularly difficult. For someone that is not a farmer, starting with BSFf could be more difficult. In this case he/she needs to have good connections to the local agricultural community in order to, on the one hand get cheap substrate and on the other hand acquiring customers to sell the products to.

In conclusion, we can say that BSFf is generally affordable and accessible, considering that little equipment, materials or knowledge is required. Additionally, BSF farming does not demand a lot of land, neither directly for keeping the flies and larvae, nor indirectly for growing their feed.

Score: Average score

Small-scale 3,1/5

Large-scale 3,1/5

Table 7: Score food security

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3.3 Conclusion Small-scale Economical 2,9/5 Environmental 3,5/5 Social 2,1/5 Partnership 2,3/5 Food security 3,1/5 Total 2,8/5

Large-scale 2,8/5 3,5/5 2,4/5 2,2/5 3,1/5 2,8/5

Table 8: Summary sustainability

Overall, it can be concluded that Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda is relatively sustainable. For the environmental theme, the score is high since farming BSF is a circular process. There are however still multiple growth opportunities for the other themes. Creating a higher market demand, better working conditions, legislation concerning BSF and more research are some of these.

When comparing the overall score for the large- and small-scale farmers, no difference can be seen. When looking at the scores for the different themes, only minor differences can be noted.

However, a closer look at the individual questions reveals more differences. For example, largescale farmers have more advanced machinery. This makes them more resilient to weather changes and can improve efficiency, but uses fossil fuels. Another big difference is the number of actors throughout the value chain. Large-scale farmers deal with more actors, but there is also less trust between partners than there is for small-scale farmers. This means that small-scale farmers share knowledge more easily than large-scale farmers. Because large-scale farmers have partners for substrate, more and further transport is needed. Additionally, having more partners results in more expansion opportunities, but makes the large-scale farmers more vulnerable to market changes as well.

The topics discussed above, will of course vary from farm to farm and depend heavily on the circumstances. Despite these growth opportunities, Black Soldier Fly farming can still be strongly recommended as a sustainable practice in Rwanda.

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4. Profitability cluster 4.1 Methodology 4.1.1

Creating profitability tool

For businesses all over the world, including those in Rwanda, a crucial objective is to be profitable and ensure short-, medium- and long-term economic viability. For this reason, the second major cluster of this research project is the profitability of BSF farms. Profit is the difference between an organization’s revenue and expenses, and the profitability is the ratio between the two. To calculate the profitability, an Excel tool was made based on a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). The tool is designed to be as accessible as possible, allowing both small- and large-scale farmers to use it with ease.

Figure 21: Summary calculations

In order to calculate the profitability, the amount of money saved by using BSF instead of conventional protein is needed. Therefore, the costs to produce BSF are required, these are variable costs. This was calculated using the costs for one larvae harvest. One larvae harvest refers to the total amount of input given to those larvae from eggs until the point of harvest. To convert this to an annual basis, the number of times per week larvae are harvested and the quantity of larvae harvested each time is required.

Secondly, the quantity of conventional protein that was given as feed to the farm animals before using BSF is required. Knowing the quantity of conventional protein given now, with the use of BSF, the ratio between the two can be determined. This information results in the savings per kilogram of BSF produced.

Next, the potential sales are brought into account. These are calculated on a monthly basis. The sales combined with the savings make the profit. Additionally, the initial investment was included.

Based on the profit made, the payback time and net profit are determined.

For the economical completeness of the tool, a tab with depreciation was added to the excel. This tab is hidden in order not to confuse the user. For each investment, a depreciation period was determined, and for the nets and starting population a replacement investment is done every five years. With all gathered data, a projection of the profitability for twenty years is made.

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4.1.2 Implementing profitability tool For this research, the profitability of BSFf in Rwanda was determined. The profitability tool attached to this paper was filled in twice, once for the small-scale farmers and once for the largescale farmers. For the small-scale, an average basis scenario is used. This scenario closely matches the reality of the visited farms, but has the advice woven into it. This way, a realistic basis scenario is used. However, this is not fully representative for all small-scale farmers due to the uniqueness of each farm. For the profitability of the large-scale farmer, the data is mainly based on the information from Walker Farm. The missing information was obtained from the farms in Kamonyi and Nyagatare. For both small- and large-scale, some estimations had to be made. The detailed input data for both small- and large-scale farmers can be found in the appendices 10.5 and 10.6 of this paper.

4.2 Results This section describes the results of the filled in profitability tool. The exchange rate from euro to RWF was 1402,87 on 20 May, 2024.

4.2.1 Small-scale Cost for other protein Cost for 1 kg of BSF Savings per kg of BSF produced Payback period Net profit per year

2.433,33 160,00 2.273,33 23 2.926.367

RWF RWF RWF Days RWF

Table 9: Profitability tool small-scale

When looking at the results for small-scale farmers, we see that BSF farming is profitable with a net profit of 2.926.367 RWF per year. With the minimum needed investment of 141.500 RWF, the payback period is 23 days and the amount saved per kg of BSF is 2273,33 RWF. When choosing more advanced equipment (crushing and drying machine), the payback period immediately increases to 218 days. Another important input-factor is the cost for substrate. Ideally, this cost would be 0 RWF. If substrate needs to be bought, the payback period becomes 33 days and the savings per kg of BSF go down to 1553 RWF. This seems to be a minor difference, but the farmer will miss out on a lot of savings on the long run. The saved amount heavily depends on the price of other protein sources. If these prices increase, the farmer will save more money by farming BSF. If the price decrease, the opposite situation will take place.

4.2.2 Large-scale Cost for other protein Cost for 1 kg of BSF Savings per kg of BSF produced Payback period Net profit per year

2.000,00 866,25 1.133,75 285 8.928.972

RWF RWF RWF Days RWF

Table 10: Profitability tool large-scale

When looking at the results for large-scale farmers, we see that BSF farming is profitable with a net profit of 8.928.972 RWF per year. The payback period, however, depends largely on the cost for housing and machinery. For instance, without the housing cost, the payback period is 110 days

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and with housing (4,5 million RWF), the payback period is 285 days. Besides the large difference between with or without including housing cost, the investment is earned back relatively quickly compared to payback periods of other large companies. Just like for small-scale farmers, the profit depends on the cost of substrate. If the cost of substrate could be halved, the payback period would be reduced to 226 days. The cost for producing 1 kg of BSF is much higher compared to small-scale. This is also due to the cost of substrate. Another factor playing a big role is the cost for employees. The savings will also depend on the price of other protein sources for large-scale farmers.

4.3 Conclusion As explained above, both small- and large-scale farms in Rwanda are profitable and investments are paid back relatively quickly. When assessing the differences between the farms, it can be observed that the cost per kg of BSF for small-scale farms is much lower compared to large-scale farms. The payback periods also differ a lot due to the cost of housing and expensive machinery.

For small-scale farms, it is assumed that they operate the BSF process in an already existing building. When looking at the small-scale farms, a net profit of almost three million RWF per year is achieved. For large-scale farms, the net profit per year is almost nine million RWF. There are a lot of factors influencing the profitability. For example, housing and cost for substrate should be kept as low as possible. Additionally, when looking to invest in machinery, it is recommended to look for machines tailored to the farmers needs and keep the costs low. Furthermore, BSFf is more profitable if the price for other protein sources increases. Both small- and large-scale farms can enjoy great financial benefits due to BSFs.

5. Advice cluster 5.1 Methodology Following the sustainability score and profitability calculations, a comprehensive overview of the entire value chain (VC) is obtained. To compliment this, experiments were conducted at the research farm in Nyagatare, established by the University of Rwanda. These results are used to create an advisory report.

5.1.1 Experiments Three experiments were set up. The purpose of these experiments was to determine the better option between two used techniques. The fist experiment is conducted to see if stretching a net above the maize bran mix significantly improves the productivity, since most small-scale farmers do not use this technique. The second experiment was designed to find the optimal amount of eggs per one kilogram of maize bran mix, as most farmers use different amounts. The last experiment tried to evaluate the optimal moisture level.

While conducting the experiments, the eggs were weighed after harvesting them. Next, the eggs were, depending on the experiment, placed either directly or indirectly on the maize bran mix.

Indirectly means the larvae are put on a net that is stretched over the feed. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae fall through the holes in the net into the maize bran mix, which consists of maize bran and water.

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All the boxes with incubated eggs were placed in a dark room on a shelf. The experiments with the indirect egg placement (stretched net) were sprinkled with water every day to prevent dehydration.

After five days, with most of the eggs having hatched, all the nets were removed and the remaining unhatched eggs on the nets were put directly on the maize bran mixture. After another six days (11 days after harvesting the eggs), the larvae were counted. To count the larvae, five samples of +- 5 or 10 g were taken from each box after thoroughly homogenizing the contents of the box. The larvae in the samples were counted manually. After counting the five samples, the average amount of larvae per g of box content was calculated. Besides the number of larvae per g, the weight of the box content in total was also needed. If there are X larvae in 10 g of mixture, there are Y larvae in the whole box.

Sample : 10g = X larvae in sample Total box : total box content weight / 10g = Y larvae in total 5.1.1.1 Experiment 1 The first experiment aimed to compare the effectiveness of two methods: placing the eggs directly onto the maize bran mix immediately after harvesting versus placing the eggs on a net stretched over the maize bran mix for the initial five days after harvesting. The farm of Nyagatare, uses the technique with the stretched net, but a lot of small-scale farmers put the eggs directly on the mix.

This experiment was carried out three times to verify repeatability and exclude coincidences.

Figure 22: Incubating without and with net

Every setup consisted of 1 kg of maize bran combined with 1,7 l of water. This amount of water was suggested by the student experts due to the hot climate in Nyagatare. For each box 1,7 g of eggs was used. For each pair of boxes, one box was without a net, while the other box had a net stretched over it.

Starting date 20/3 Net (1A) WN 22/3 (1B)

Net

Amount/ box Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1,7 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1,7 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l

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Date of removing net 25/3

Day of counting larvae 31/3

25/3

31/3

27/3

2/4

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Eggs: 1,7 g WN 25/3 (1C)

Net WN

Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1,7 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1,7 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1,7 g

27/3

2/4

30/3

5/4

30/3

5/4

Table 11: Setup experiment 1

5.1.1.2 Experiment 2 According to the literature, and more specifically Inagro, the ideal egg quantity for 1 kg of maize bran mix is 1 g of eggs. Inagro is a Belgian research centre specialized in BSF, among others. The research farm of Nyagatare uses up to 10 g of eggs for 1 kg of maize bran mix. This experiment has taken place three times to verify repeatability and exclude coincidences.

Again, every setup consisted of 1 kg of maize bran combined with 1,7 l of water. This amount of water was suggested by the student experts due to the hot climate in Nyagatare. For each pair of boxes there was one box with 1 g of eggs and one box with 10 g of eggs.

Starting date 22/3 (2A)

22/3 (2B)

25/3 (2C)

Amount/ box Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 10 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 10 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 10 g

Date of removing net 27/3

Day of counting larvae 2/4

27/3

2/4

27/3

2/4

27/3

2/4

30/3

5/4

30/3

5/4

Table 12: Setup experiment 2

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Experiment 3

At the research farm in Nyagatare, the exact amount of water used to make the maize bran mix is not specified. The objective of this third experiment was to determine if 0-5 day old larvae have a higher chance of survival in a more dry or more moist environment. There were three setups, one with 1,1 l of water, one with 1,4 l of water and one with 1,7 l of water. Every setup consists of 1 kg of maize bran. Over every box there was a net stretched that had 2,9 g of eggs placed on top.

Starting date 27/3

Amount/ box Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,1 l Eggs: 2,9 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,4 l Eggs: 2,9 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 2,9 g

27/3 27/3

Date of removing net ¼

Day of counting larvae 8/4

¼

8/4

¼

8/4

Table 13: Setup experiment 3

5.2 Results 5.2.1 Experiments 5.2.1.1

General

For all the experiments the same maize bran is used.

The larvae where counted before being batched.

5.2.1.2 Starting date 20/3

Net

(1A)

Experiment 1

Amount/ box

Date of Observation* Date of Amount removing counting net

Comment

Maize: 1 kg

25/3

Someone added an unspecified amount of water.

Mix too wet.

31/3

26.100

Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1,7 g WN

Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l

Crumbly.

25/3

Mix has good moisture.

31/3

12.600

Someone added an unspecified amount of water.

Crumbly.

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Eggs: 1,7 g 22/3

Net

(1B)

Maize: 1 kg

27/3

Mix too wet.

2/4

40.740

27/3

Mix has good moisture.

2/4

12.390

30/3

5/4

50.820

30/3

5/4

12.390

Water: 1,7 l

A lot of different sizes.

Eggs: 1,7 g WN

Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1,7 g

25/3

Net

(1C)

Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 1,7 g

WN

Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l

Crumbly.

Mostly big larvae.

Eggs: 1,7 g Table 14: Result experiment 1

Net = experiment with eggs places on the net above the maize mix WN = without net; the eggs are placed directly on the maize mix *= these observations are made with support of Doctor Gervais Shema, Professor at UR and PhD student at University of Ghent.

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Conclusion experiment 1: It can be concluded that the boxes where the eggs were first put on a net have a considerably higher amount of larvae. Experiment 1A differs slightly because water was added. Nevertheless, it has to be taken into account that the boxes where a net was placed the first days, generally had a big difference in size. The larvae that were still really small, will probably not survive batching. In the boxes where the larvae where put directly onto the maize mix, the larvae had approximately the same size. Therefore, most will survive batching.

5.9.1.2 Experiment 2 When checking the different boxes, it was observed that the larvae in the boxes of 10 g eggs were still very small on the expected counting day. For that reason, the counting date was postponed.

Even after postponing, it was impossible to count all larvae accurately due to their small size. At first, an attempt was made to count all larvae, but after realising that this was not accurate and that the smallest ones would not survive, it was decided not to count larvae below a certain size.

Starting Amount/ date box

Date of Observation removing net

Date of Amount counting

22/3

Maize: 1 kg

27/3

2/4

35.700

(2A)

Water: 1,7 l

Mix too wet.

2/4

Smaller larvae.

7/4

With small: 103.136

Mix too wet.

Comment

Bigger larvae.

Eggs: 1 g Maize: 1 kg

27/3

Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 10 g

A lot of very small larvae.

Substrate is too dry.

Without smallest: 85.026 22/3

Maize: 1 kg

(2B)

Water: 1,7 l

27/3

Mix too wet.

2/4

33.390

Mix too wet.

2/4

Smaller larvae.

7/4

With small: 90.850

Bigger larvae.

Eggs: 1 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l

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27/3

A lot of very small larvae.

Substrate is too dry.

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Eggs: 10 g

25/3

Maize: 1 kg

(2C)

Water: 1,7 l

Without smallest: 63.912 30/3

5/4

34.867

30/3

5/4

With small: 215.598

Eggs: 1 g Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l

10/4

Eggs: 10 g

A lot of very small larvae.

Substrate is too dry.

Without smallest: 141.848 Table 15: Result experiment 2

Conclusion experiment 2: This experiment shows that adding ten times as many eggs does not result in ten times as many larvae. Furthermore, when 10 g is added, it takes much longer for the larvae to grow, since there is a lot of competition. This also results in smaller larvae. Besides that, it was observed that in one box of 10 g, many larvae tried to escape. These results need to be analysed with caution because bad moisture could have affected the growth of the larvae. The fact that box 2C has noticeably more larvae could be due to temperature, since it is from a different date.

Figure 23: Escaping larvae

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5.9.1.3 Experiment 3 Starting Amount/ date box

Date of Observation Date of removing counting net

Amount Comment

27/3

1/4

20.579

Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,1 l

Perfect moisture: water was added.

8/4

Eggs: 2,9 g

Someone added an unspecified amount of water.

Crumbly.

Many big larvae.

27/3

Maize: 1 kg

1/4

Dry but a bit water was added.

8/4

53.783

Someone added an unspecified amount of water.

1/4

Dry but a bit water was added.

8/4

83.360

Someone added an unspecified amount of water.

Water: 1,4 l Eggs: 2,9 g 27/3

Maize: 1 kg Water: 1,7 l Eggs: 2,9 g

Table 16: Result experiment 3

Conclusion experiment 3: Due to the addition of an undefined amount of water, it is impossible to make any conclusions based on the amount of water. In general it can be concluded that moisture is very important. The amount of water added in the maize bran mix depends on the climate and temperatures. In warmer climates the moisture will evaporate more quickly.

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6. SWOT After all research and analyses, this SWOT was compiled. SWOT stands for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats”. It shows a good overview of the challenges and strengths of BSFf. This can be used to determine the pain points so they can be discussed in the advisory report. This analyses is made for the poor small-scale farmers, the target group of this paper.

Helpful Strengths:

Intern

-

Own substrate/waste Own animals Easy Profitable Sustainable Nutrients

Extern

Opportunities: -

Customers Investments Collaboration Price conventional proteins

Harmful Weaknesses: -

Time Perseverance needed Cycle

Threats: -

Maize bran price Trainings Price conventional proteins

Figure 24: SWOT analysis

6.1 •

•

•

• •

Strengths

Own substrate/waste: The farmer himself/herself often has chickens and/or pigs. These produce manure, which can be used as substrate. Additionally, organic food waste can be used. Both manure and food waste can be costless and created on the farm.

Own animals: If the farmer has his/her own pigs/chickens, BSF can be used immediately on the farm. This way, no extra transport is needed and all benefits of BSF are directly applicable on the farmer’s own animals.

Easy: BSFf is an easy process with simple operations. When following the process steps one by one, it is possible for everyone to farm BSF successfully. There is no need for higher education.

Profitable: BSFf is profitable for both small- and large-scale farmers. A lot of money is saved compared to buying conventional protein sources.

Sustainable: BSFL consume organic waste and do not need a lot of land and water, resulting in it being sustainable. Other factors making BSFf sustainable are explained in section 3.2 of this paper.

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Nutrients: BSF consist of different nutrients such as fat and protein. These are needed for the animals to grow.

6.2

•

• •

• • •

•

•

Opportunities

Customers: If a farm scales-up, besides using the larvae for their own animals, the remaining ones could be sold to other farmers. A starting population could also be sold to other farmers to start their own BSF business. This way, the profit increases.

Investments: By investing in machinery, the efficiency and production can be increased.

Collaborations: By collaborating with other nearby small-scale farmers, investments can be made and knowledge can be shared.

Price conventional protein: If the price of other protein sources keeps rising, BSF will become even more profitable.

6.4

•

Weaknesses

Time: The whole process can, for a not-trained farmer, take a lot of time. Besides taking care of the pigs and chickens, there also needs to be time for the BSF. To manage the extra time consumption, an employee might be needed.

Perseverance needed: The lifecycle of the BSF constantly continues. So almost every day some work needs to be done to guarantee the continuity of the BSF cycle.

Cycle: The cycle comes with some difficulties. Although BSFf is easy, a lot can happen that decreases the production. Keeping the right moisture level is especially important.

Every step needs to be monitored closely to ensure optimal production.

6.3

•

2023-2024

Threats

Maize bran price: Maize bran is also used as animal feed. The prize might be high because of high demand.

Trainings: Without the needed training, BSF farming could end in a failure, without any profit for the farmer. At this moment, some trainings are available but these are not very accessible for small-scale farmers.

Price conventional protein: If the price of other protein sources decreases, BSF might become less interesting.

7. Advisory report In this section, recommendations for optimizing each step of BSF farming are provided. This advisory report responds to the non-optimal situations identified during the farm visits. These recommendations are based on the results described above, including the conducted experiments. Optimisations aim to enhance both sustainability and profitability. These recommendations are tailored to benefit poor small-scale farmers, as they are the target group of this project.

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7.1 General •

First and foremost, it is recommended to seek investors, both from public and private sectors, to invest in BSF farming in Rwanda. Without the support of other actors, BSF will not easily grow in Rwanda. Their support can facilitate expansion and encourage other farmers to start farming BSF. Additionally, these investors could fund valuable training and support farmers entering the sector.

•

Furthermore, it is advisable to search for opportunities to sell BSF products. Small larvae could be sold as starting population to other farmers or as feed to fish farmers. The harvested larvae could also be sold as feed for poultry or pigs. Even the frass could be sold as fertilizer.

•

To make investments in larger machinery, such as a crushing and drying machine, more accessible, it is recommended to collaborate, with or without the support of external parties. Establishing a cooperative association or a group of farmers allows for collective investment in such equipment. The machinery becomes accessible for all members of the cooperative. This approach eliminates the need for individual investments and ensures that everyone benefits from the machinery. Through these collective investments, production and profitability can be increased for all involved parties. Collaborating can also encourage sharing knowledge.

•

In general, we recommend that farmers spend enough time on BSFf. While BSF is not very time consuming, neglecting the care of BSF can lead to decreased production and the process steps taking longer. We recommend doing a daily checkup and dedicating at least 10 hours per week to BSF farming.

•

It is also advisable to follow a training, if possible, even though BSFf is not difficult.

However, insufficient knowledge can potentially lead to reduced profitability or even failure. Trainings are difficult to find on this new topic in Rwanda. Therefore, it is suggested to visit other BSF farmers to learn firsthand from their experiences and gain insights into the best practices and techniques.

7.2 Infrastructure •

For the location where the BSF process takes place, it is important to keep the accessibility for pests in mind. If mice and ants have the chance to enter, they can kill all larvae and flies. Hanging the racks with larvae and fly cages from the ceiling can prevent this. It is also advisable to place water in a gutter surrounding the building or placing the legs of the cages and racks in a basin with a lot of water. It is however not recommended to use poison due to sustainability concerns, as it can also have negative effects or even be deadly for the larvae.

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Figure 25: Basins with water

•

If it is not possible to arrange separate rooms for the flies and the larvae, it is advisable to provide good ventilation. Adequate ventilation helps to minimize disturbances to the egglaying process of the flies caused by the smell of the larvae.

•

Furthermore, it is important to keep the fly cage clean. This prevents bad odours and potential diseases. A dirty cage can also result in eggs being laid in unwanted places, such as in the nets or water container.

7.3 Incubating eggs •

When incubating the eggs, it is recommended not to place too many eggs on the maize bran mix. The experiments conducted for this paper revealed that increasing the number of eggs on the same amount of maize bran mix did not proportionally increase the number of larvae. Moreover, when there are too many larvae, it takes longer for them to grow.

Therefore, it is recommended to place one gram of eggs per kilogram of maize bran mix to maximize productivity.

•

The moisture level of the maize bran mix is crucial for successful BSF farming. If the mix is either too wet or too dry, the larvae will not thrive. The optimal moisture level depends on the local climate, with warm regions requiring more water to be added when preparing the maize bran mix. When starting to farm BSF, it will be a process of trial and error to determine the optimal moisture level. It is also important to regularly check the moisture level, so adjustments can be made if necessary. A good test is to squeeze the mix. If water is running out, it is too wet. If it does not stick together, it is too dry. Ideally, it releases very few drops when squeezing.

Some farmers opt to use chicken feed instead of maize bran as feed for the small larvae.

This is inadvisable, both from a profitability and sustainability standpoint. While chicken feed may lead to larger larvae initially, the repeated higher cost is not justified in the long run. Moreover, from a sustainability perspective it is not justified to feed BSF with high quality food when they can thrive on lower quality food.

•

•

Furthermore, it is advisable to stretch a net above the maize bran mix and place the eggs on the net instead of directly on the feed. Firstly, using the net can prevent other insects from infiltrating the maize bran mix and competing for feed with the BSF. Secondly, the experiments have shown that using a net results in considerably more larvae. The

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investment for the net will be earned back quickly due to higher production and the highly profitable nature of BSF. However, it’s important to note that using this method requires daily humidification in order to prevent the eggs from drying out.

7.4 Batching •

When batching the small larvae, we recommend using mainly own available substrate.

This can be manure, kitchen waste or a mix of the two. Utilizing available substrate helps to minimize costs and makes it more sustainable. If it is necessary to purchase substrate somewhere else, we recommend using market waste. Fruits and juicy vegetables are the preferred substrates for the larvae.

•

The substrate should be maintained at an optimal moisture level - not too dry but also not too wet. If the substrate begins to crumble, it is too dry and some water can be added. If there is a layer of water present in the substrate, it is too wet and mixing in some maize bran can help absorb the excess water. Additionally, it is recommended to grind the substrate into small pieces as much as possible. This allows the larvae to consume the substrate more easily. Moreover it facilitates harvesting with sieves. Cutting the substrate into small pieces, however, is labour-intensive.

•

The larvae should be placed in a dark environment to optimize production. BSF are sensitive to light and tend to move away from it. Keeping the larvae in darkness helps to reduce stress and promotes normal behaviour. Using a dark room can also help regulate the temperature.

•

If the substrate cannot be given to the larvae immediately after collection, it is advisable to store it in sealed containers. By placing it in a closed area, the likelihood of other insects or animals entering the substrate is reduced. This prevents them from laying eggs or consuming the substrate, both of which are undesirable.

7.5 Reproduction •

The selection of larvae for reproduction is best done when batching. These larvae should be given the highest quality substrate, such as fruit. This ensures the production of the best larvae possible, resulting in the best flies possible. These will provide more eggs.

7.6 Harvesting larvae •

Harvesting can best be done by using sieves. This approach is more time-efficient and beneficial for the person conducting the harvesting. To effectively use sieves, it is important that the substrate has the right structure. This can be achieved by using finely cut substrate. The sieve’s holes should not be too large, otherwise the larvae will fall through along with the substrate. The sieves are quite cheap and their purchase will be pay off quickly.

•

As mentioned before, the larvae are harvested once they have finished eating. It is recommended to harvest the larvae as soon as they reach this stage. When waiting too

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long, the larvae will become prepupae. They turn black and are therefore more difficult to spot among the substrate. They also tend to be less active. When waiting even longer and the larvae become pupae, it becomes nearly impossible to conduct handpicked harvesting. Pupae are also black and have completely stopped moving, causing them to be scattered throughout the substrate rather than clustered together.

7.7 Drying •

After harvesting the larvae, it is advisable to dry them and thereby extending their shelf life.

Various techniques can be used, as described earlier. Regardless of the used technique, it is important to check whether all larvae died. This can be done when they are placed on the tarp for sun drying. During this process, you have to be warry of birds looking for a snack.

•

In the future, when considering farm upgrades, it may be advisable to build a construction for sun-drying the larvae. It would be designed to elevate the larvae off the ground to protect them from mice and ants. Additionally, it would be surrounded by nets to protect the larvae from birds. This method is cheaper than a drying machine and could prove to be highly beneficial to the farmers.

Figure 26: Sun-drying construction

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8. Bibliography Adeline Mertenat, S. D. (2018). Black Soldier Fly biowaste treatment – Assessment of global warming. Elsevier.

Black soldier fly could offer a revolution for farming and waste management. (2024, February 15). Retrieved from Intellecap : https://www.intellecap.com/black-soldier-fly-couldoffer-a-revolution-for-farming-and-waste-management/ Business loan . (n.d.). Retrieved from Bank of Kigali: https://bk.rw/business/business-loan Chelsea D. Miranda, J. A. (2019). Interspecific Competition between the House Fly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) and Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens (L.) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) When Reared on Poultry Manure.

Cohen, A. C. (2022). Nutritional Composition of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia illucens L.) and Its Potential Uses as Alternative Protein Sources in Animal Diets: A Review.

(2021). DRS 485 Production and handling of edible insects for food and feed - Code of practice.

RSB. (2021). DRS 487 Edible insect products — Specification Part 1: Whole insect and edible insect flour. RSB. (2020). DRS 98 Animal feed production, processing, storage and distribution - Code of practice .

RSB. econourish. (n.d.). Retrieved from EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF BLACK SOLDIER FLY LARVAE FOR UK NATIVE WILDLIFE & THE ECOSYSTEM: https://econourish.co.uk/bsflbiodiversity-uk-ecosystem-wildlife-environment/ G. Bosch, H. v.-K. (2019). Conversion of organic resources by black soldier fly larvae: Legislation, efficiency and environmental impact. Elsevier.

Holtermans, B. (2022, October 2). Q&A: What is the ideal temperature for farming Black Soldier Fly larvae? Retrieved from Insect school: https://www.insectschool.com/production/what-are-the-ideal-temperature-conditionsfor-farming-black-soldier-flylarvae/#:~:text=Past%20research%20has%20shown%20that,for%20the%20eggs%20to %20hatch.

IFAD. (2020). OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES ON IFAD’S ENGAGEMENT IN PRO-POOR VALUE CHAIN DEVELOPMEN. INAGRO. (2023). Kweekhandleiding Zwarte soldatenvlieg.

Investment opportunities. (n.d.). Retrieved from Rwanda Devellopment Board : https://rdb.rw/investment-opportunities/agriculture/#tab-2-2 Lecocq, A. J. (2023). Diseases of black soldier flies Hermetia illucens L. a future challenge for production?

Lelanie Hoffmann, K. L.-v. (2021). Patterns of Genetic Diversity and Mating Systems in a MassReared Black Soldier Fly Colony.

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Lotte Joosten, A. L. (2020). Review of insect pathogen risks for the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) and guidelines for reliable production.

Newsletter of the Belgian Cooperation in and with Rwanda. (2022, December). Retrieved from Rwanda Diplomatie Belgium: https://rwanda.diplomatie.belgium.be/sites/default/files/202308/December%202022%20Highlights%20of%202022_0.pdf Pathak, N. (2020, January 21). Animal Nutrition: Desirable Characteristics of Nutrition. Retrieved from James Lind Institute: https://www.jliedu.com/blog/animal-nutritioncharacteristics/ Physical properties of defatted and extruded black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae-based aqua-feed using a twin-screw extruder. (2023, September 28). Retrieved from springer link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44187-023-00056-6 REPUBLIC OF RWANDA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION. (2019). LABOUR MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES. RSB. (n.d.). WHO WE ARE. Retrieved from RSB: https://www.rsb.gov.rw/about/overview Rwanda. (n.d.). Retrieved from Every culture: https://www.everyculture.com/NoSa/Rwanda.html#:~:text=With%20its%20long%20history%20of,on%20mats%20on%20t he%20floor.

Rwanda. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda (2021). Selecting value chain for sustainable food value chain development. FAO. Services . (n.d.). Retrieved from Republic of Rwanda : https://www.gov.rw/services/agricultureanimal-resources Sustainability. (n.d.). Retrieved from United Nations: https://www.un.org/en/academicimpact/sustainability The 3 Ps of sustainability. (n.d.). Retrieved from Move to impact: https://movetoimpact.com/blogs/the-3ps-of-sustainability/ THE BLACK SOLDIER FLY: THE STAR OF INSECT FARMING. (2021, May 11). Retrieved from Better Origin: https://betterorigin.co.uk/2021/05/black-soldier-fly-guide/ THE SDGS IN ACTION. (n.d.). Retrieved from UNDP: https://www.undp.org/sustainabledevelopment-goals UNDP. (2023). Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023.

VSF. (n.d.). BLACK SOLDIER FLIES FARMING IN RWANDA.

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9. Appendices 9.1 List of figures Figure 1: BSF lifecycle

9

Figure 2: SDG’s (THE SDGS IN ACTION., n.d.)

10

Figure 3: Maize bran mix with small larvae

11

Figure 4: Substrate

11

Figure 5: Batched larvae

11

Figure 6: Plastic sheet placed under substrate

12

Figure 7: Handpicking technique

12

Figure 8: Attraction technique

12

Figure 9: Sieve

13

Figure 10: Larvae being fried

13

Figure 11: Dried larvae

13

Figure 12: Pupae

14

Figure 13: Hole in fly cage

14

Figure 14: Light source

14

Figure 15: Egg-laying place

14

Figure 16: Wooden board with eggs

14

Figure 17: Stakeholder analyses

17

Figure 18: BSF value chain

18

Figure 19: Ants attacking

26

Figure 20: Light source

26

Figure 21: Summary calculations

33

Figure 22: Incubating without and with net

36

Figure 23: Escaping larvae

41

Figure 24: SWOT analysis

43

Figure 25: Basins with water

46

Figure 26: Sun-drying construction

48

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9.2 List of tables Table 1: Value chain elements

16

Table 2: Summary sustainability

21

Table 3: Score economical

24

Table 4: Score environmental

27

Table 5: Score social

30

Table 6: Score partnership

31

Table 7: Score food security

31

Table 8: Summary sustainability

32

Table 9: Profitability tool small-scale

34

Table 10: Profitability tool large-scale

34

Table 11: Setup experiment 1

36

Table 12: Setup experiment 2

37

Table 13: Setup experiment 3

38

Table 14: Result experiment 1

38

Table 15: Result experiment 2

40

Table 16: Result experiment 3

42

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9.3 Farm visits 09/03/2024 On Saturday 09/03 we visited three farms, that thanks to Véténaires Sans Frontières (VSF) were able to implement BSF into their farming processes. In each case Black Soldier Flies (BSF) were used to feed their own animals (pigs and/or chickens).

People present: Prosper, Theoneste, Loup, Lara, Lani and the three farmers who were so kind to show us around on their farms.

9.3.1 Summary of the visits 9.3.1.1 General information We had the opportunity to ask some general questions for our research.

The way to take the eggs from the wooden mating place is to scrape it off with a knife. You can put 5g eggs on 0,5 kg food. This equals +/- 10 wooden boards. One small half jerrycan can be batched in two big boxes. Batching means putting the small larvae in another box. You can add some medication in the substrate to avoid diseases. There are some plants added into the cage to make the flies feel at home. This way they will not sit on the gaze and therefore not escape. To be allowed to take part in the VSF project, the farmer needs to have at least 10 pigs and 100 chickens. VSF estimated time spent on BSF is 48h/week.

During the sun drying process birds and other animals need to be kept away. The climate does not have a big impact on the process except for the sun drying step. If it rains it is not possible to perform this step. Once a month there is a new fly population.

Besides proteins the animals also need carbohydrates, vitamins and fat. Normally as protein source they use soya or fish. The proteins of BSFs are easily more available compared to soya.

1 box = 4 jerrycans The farmers gathered often during the course of the project. Now that the project has ended, they do not meet up anymore. They still can use the phone to keep in touch. Sharing information is difficult due to the fact the farmers see it purely as business. Therefore, nobody can visit the farm to gain information without paying for the visit.

It was said that house flies do not compete with BSFs because the lifecycle of BSFs are too short and the BSFs are stronger.

In general it is common for the man to do the farming. No women included. No religious connections to keep in mind. The work circumstances are not always very good, e.g. they build a fire inside without ventilation.

Pig farmers also buy maize bran for their pigs so the maize is not really waste and it makes it very expensive.

Everything, every step, is done the traditional way.

All water used is collected rainwater.

All farms would like to have a drying installation and crushing machine.

9.3.1.2 Farm 1: (Kisaro) This location is situated in a colder part of Rwanda so adaptation to the temperature is needed.

The BSF likes to be in a warm and humid surrounding.

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The setup consists of three fly cages where the adult flies can lay eggs on the foreseen wooden mating places. The harvested eggs are kept in half jerrycans that serve as incubators. The 5-day old larvae are kept in a separated room in the dark on two racks.

The harvested and newly-hatched larvae lay on a bed of maize bran mixed with water. The maize bran is produced by the farmer himself. He batches the 5-day old larvae to a bigger container.

Here the substrate consists of maize bran, pig manure and fruit left-overs. After 12 days he is ready to harvest the larvae. He harvests them by using the technique of attraction. Hereby the larvae climb under the plastic layer on the bottom of the container. This way he can collect them very easily. Some will be kept to become flies and the remaining larvae will be fed to the animals. In his case pigs. The adult flies get sugar water.

In 100 kg animal feed there is 5 kg soya or 1 kg BSF. He has 300 pigs (questionable) and is able to replace the protein source by BSF entirely. All substrate elements are provided by the farmer himself. In the fly cages plants are implemented.

He adapts to the cold by hanging his fly cages in the air. This way it is closer to the see-through part of the roof which makes it warmer and it prevents pest. Sometimes a fire is made in the room to make it warm and thereby creating a better climate for the flies.

Cots: -

Net: 6000 RWF Fly cage: 30 000 RWF Crates: 120 000 RWF (alternative: jerrycan: 5000 RWF) Racks: 30 000 RWF Soya: 800 RWF/ kg

Time spent: -

Egg collection: 30 min (after 3 days) Batching: 10 min Harvesting larvae: 6h Drying: 5 minutes (after 12 days) Sundry: 2 days (depends on sun)

Extra information: Before BSF: castrated pig at 8 months: 80 kg With BSF: Castrated pig at 8 months: 150 kg 9.3.1.3 Farm 2: (Kisaro) This farm has one fly cage in use and a second empty one to scale-up the production. The larvae are in a separate room.

This farmer has to buy his maize bran from another farmer because he doesn’t have his own supply.

The substrate for the 5-day old larvae consist of pig manure combined with water and maize bran.

He harvests them by using the technique with a plastic layer inside the box. The rest of the manure is used as fertilizer on his own land.

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The farmer had 50 pigs to start with but now only five are left. He claims that the BSFs are enough to fulfil the protein demands for 50 pigs.

In general, he does not use normal fire to compete with the cold temperatures. Instead he uses glowing coals. Occasionally he uses a normal open fire to heat the rooms.

There were a lot of other flies in the cage due to the presence of other eggs in the used waste.

Costs: -

Maize bran: 250 RWF / kg (0,5 kg needed for eggs)

Time spent: -

Collecting eggs: 1h every 3 days Harvesting larvae: 2 people 4 hours during 2 days (after 14 days) Drying: 20 min Sun drying: 3 days

9.3.1.4 Farm 3: (Rusiga) The third farm has two fly cages and one rack for the larvae. The process happens in one room.

The larvae ate a mixture of pig manure, chicken manure and vegetables. He fed his chickens and pigs with the larvae. To separate the larvae from the substrate he used two sieves with different sizes. For the eggs he needed to buy the maize bran from another farmer and the vegetables from a restaurant, which makes it very expensive.

He claimed that the amount of BSFs was enough to feed all his animals. He has 1000 chickens and four pigs.

Costs: -

For 1 kg larvae he pays 1200 RWF (if substrate doesn’t need to be bought it is only 700-800 RWF) For 100 kg feed he adds 6 kg of fish = 1600 RWF / kg For 100 kg feed he adds 5 kg of soya = 800 RWF / kg Now: for 100 kg feed he adds 6 kg BSF Sieve with big holes: 1500 RWF Sieve with small holes: 2500 RWF

Time spent: -

Eggs harvesting: 5-10 min Big sieve: 1h-1.5h Small sieve: 20 min

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9.4 Farm visit 13/03/2024 On Wednesday 13 March we had another opportunity to visit a small farm.

9.4.1 Summary of the visit 9.4.1.1 General information For reproduction, it is generally suggested to give different food compared to the production larvae. Typically, only maize bran and vegetables are used for reproduction. Which larvae are used for reproduction is decided in the beginning.

BSF farming seems to be the perfect job for women. During the entire value chain, women are involved in the “easier” tasks e.g. sorting. According to women involved in BSF farming, there are no significant challenges associated with their work.

9.4.1.2

Farm 4: (Rwamagana)

This was the first female farmer we visited. The farm is located in a warmer part of Rwanda, which eliminates the need for heat control. The process was done in two different places.

The substrate consists of fruit residue (mainly bananas and avocado). The residue comes from her own kitchen or she gets it for free from the market. For the small larvae she buys maize bran, which she also has to buy to feed the chickens. Sometimes the chicken waste is also given to the larvae. The chicken waste is cooked so it doesn’t carry any diseases.

She claimed to have 1000 chickens and 6 pigs. The amount of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) produced isn’t enough, so she only gives them to the chickens. She doesn’t give extra soya to fill the protein gap. There are plans to expand the farm.

After starting to feed the chickens with BSFL she claims to have less trouble with diseases and that they grow faster. Before she sold the chickens at 45 days old and now they are ready to be sold after 38 days. Some even claim they taste better.

For harvesting she sometimes uses the method of attraction. For this she uses either oil or the leftover sauce from preparing the dogfood. The larvae that aren’t attracted by this method she uses for reproduction. Otherwise she just collects them by picking them out from the middle of the substrate.

Costs: -

Maize bran: 150 RWF/Kg (she uses 0,5 kg / box) Crushing machine: 170 000 RWF Before BSF she spent 680 RWF on chickenfeed and now 460 RWF

Time spent: -

Eggs harvesting: 20 min (done once every other day) Incubating eggs: 5 min Batching: 10 min (7 days after incubating) Self-harvesting: 1 min (takes 30min for the larvae) (14 days after incubating) Drying: cooking in hot water for 10 min (if still alive 5 more min), sun drying 5 min, frying 30 min Crushing with a machine (2kg / 1 min)

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She sometimes sells small larvae to farmers who want to start BSFf (not really as a business). She gets 8000 RWF per kilogram small larvae. A lot of them don’t succeed since you need a lot of commitment. Training is recommended.

9.5 Farm visits 12/04/2024 On Friday 12 April we visited two large-scale BSF farms. They produce large amounts of BSF and have all facilities necessary for optimal production.

People present: Dr. Gervais, Josephine, Gedeon, Lani, Lara and the farmers.

9.5.1 Summary of the visits: Bugesera Neither of the farmers know anything about any legislations in place concerning BSF. 9.5.1.1 Farm 5: Walkers farmer The farmer was supposed to have more than 2000 pigs, but recently lost them all to swine fever.

He has 15 hectares of land. There, among other things, he plants maize and banana. The maize is solely for own use. The farmer uses fertilizer from BSF for the banana plantains and claims the productivity has gone up because of it.

At the farm they harvest eggs every morning. In the fly cages it was 41°C at time of the visit. When it is more than 40°C water needs to be sprayed every half hour. The farmer places 2 g of eggs on one box with maize mix. For the mix he uses maize, maize bran, soja and sunflower cake. He has his own factory where he can prepare that feed.

Depending on the size of the pigs he gives between 0,75 and 1,5 kg BSF every morning and evening to each pig. Previously, he used to give 2 kg of soja, which has now been completely replaced. He gets 12 kg of fresh larvae out of one box of substrate. This is approximately 5-6 kg of dried larvae.

In one box he adds 15 kg of substrate to start and after five days he adds 15 more kg. The farmer gets the substrate from hotels in Kigali. Every Saturday, he gets six tons filled with restaurant waste. He only pays for the guys collecting the substrate, not for the substrate itself. Before giving the substrate to the larvae, the substrate needs to be divided and fermented (taking 6 days). The farm is difficult to reach. He does not want to give manure from his own pigs to the BSF, since that way the manure will return back to the pigs.

There is one person always working on the farm and when it is time to harvest, people from the maize plants come to help as well. For harvesting, they first manually remove the larvae that huddled together. Then they use a sieve and any larvae that remain by then can be picked by hand.

Not all substrate is suitable to use as fertilizer, some part is composted. They harvest two times a week and from one harvest he gets between 150 and 200 kg of fresh larvae. 2 g of eggs (=2 g small larvae) is placed in 15 kg substrate and that becomes 12 kg fresh larvae.

He also explained that there is a big market for BSF products. The market comes from pig, chicken and fish farmers. The small larvae are used by the fish farmers to give to the fingerlings, since they like floating and moving targets. He claims to have too many clients.

Prices for sales: -

1 g of small larvae: 3000 RWF 1 kg of fresh larvae: 2000 RWF

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1 kg fertilizer: 700 RWF

The farmer owns a crushing machine. He paid 800 000 RWF for it, but it could be 500 000 RWF if he did not need an engine. He also has a roasting machine. This one can roast 100 kg of BSF in 30 minutes. It can also be used to roast soja or beans. He purchased the machine for 1,5 million RWF. Additionally he possesses a grinding machine.

9.5.1.2 Farm 6: Abusol Ltd Abusol Ltd is a big farm with 150 000 layer chickens. They think biosecurity is very important. Since there is a shortage of soja and fish meal they wanted to produce their own protein source for the chickens.

For the BSF they have two big greenhouses, one for the larvae and one for the flies, and two big warehouses. The greenhouses are completely surrounded with water to prevent ants and mice from coming in. Inside the greenhouses it is very hot. In the greenhouse with the flies there is water on the ground to cool it down.

In the warehouse they store the substrate that is market waste. There are many sources for the organic waste, but a good network is needed. This remains a challenge for Abusol Ltd. After sorting the substrate by type, they grind everything and lastly the types are mixed for optimal composition. The substrate can be stored for 6-12 months. They do not use chicken manure since they can sell that for a high price.

They collect eggs every two days and can collect up to 600 g at a time. More than 50 g of eggs are put on 1 kg of feed for the small larvae. This feed is chicken feed. A lot of fruit flies were observed around the eggs.

100 g of small larvae are then put onto 7 kg of feed. Each day they can apparently harvest 500 kg of fresh larvae, after drying 60% of that weight get lost. For the harvest a sieve is used. They harvest 70% of the larvae and the rest is used for reproduction. In the fly cage they put woodchips on the pupae to replicate the dark room.

After harvesting the larvae they are fried over a big fire for a couple of minutes. Then, they are placed in a sort of cage where they are raised from the ground and surrounded by a gated fence to protect the larvae from animals. After the initial drying they are placed on the ground outside of the cage, since they claim that once the larvae are dried the birds do not eat them. At Abusol Ltd they also crush the dead flies.

The complete production is used for their own chickens, but it is not yet sufficient. Now 5-10% of soja is replaced and they plan to replace the soja entirely in the future. They also claim to extract the fat of BSF before feeding them to the chickens. Abusol Ltd claims that the cost of farming 1 kg of BSF is 250 RWF.

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9.6 Questionnaire: small-scale farming This appendix is filled in twice, once for the small-scale farmers and once for the large-scale farmers. For both questionnaires an average of the different farmers in this category is used.

These questions are generated based on the “OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES ON IFAD’S ENGAGEMENT IN PRO-POOR VALUE CHAIN DEVELOPMENT”, (IFAD, 2020) and “Selecting value chains for sustainable food value chain development” (Selecting value chain for sustainable food value chain development, 2021).

Sustainability General Questions were generated to assess the sustainability of BSFf. The questions are divided into different topics as described in the methodology. Each of these questions is given a score between 0 and 5. A low score means there is still potential for growth on the sustainability area. A high score means it is sustainable. Extra information is given to clarify the score when needed. For each topic a total score is generated by calculating the average percentage.

Economic Question Market: Is there a market demand for BSF? Can BSF expand to new markets?

Is BSF being exported?

How evenly spread is market influence and control?

Efficiency: Can costs be easily reduced?

Are the consumption volumes similar to the production volumes?

Can efficiency or scale up operations be increased?

Value chain and actors: Is this value chain (VC) resistant to market shocks?

Is this value chain resistant to logistical risks?

Can the risks be managed at each value chain stage?

Have all actors a say in the overall governance of this VC? How much do all actors of the VC trust each other?

Is there transparency through all collaborations?

Competitive advantages: Are the costs lower compared to competing products?

Does BSF have competitive advantages?

Are there possibilities for value addition and product differentiation?

Money: Is BSF farming economically and financially viable?

Are there private or public investments?

Is there good access to productive assets/capital/natural resource endowments?

Total score:

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Score (0-5)

Extra information

1,5 2 0 0 3,5 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 3,5 4 5 1

4 1 2

If VSF does not supply the materials

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Environmental Question Resources: Can low quality natural resources be used?

Are the needed resources easily available in Rwanda?

How and how far are the necessary transportations?

Resilience: How resistant is the BSF value chain to weather related risks?

Are weather-related risks easily managed?

How resistant is the BSF value chain to environmental and biological risks?

How resistant is the BSF VC to climate change?

How easily can the BSF VC be climate proofed?

Efficiency: Is the energy used renewable?

Is water efficiently used?

How much waste is generated?

Other impacts: Does BSFf have a low impact on greenhouse gasses?

How easily can practises be put in place to reduce hazardous gas emissions?

What is the impact of BSF on the surrounding ecosystems?

What management and government mechanisms are in place concerning BSF farming in Rwanda?

Is there enough genetic diversity to not have a negative impact on biodiversity?

Total score:

Score (0-5)

Extra information

4 4 4

The closer, the higher score

3 2,5 3 4 3,5 5 5 4,5

no waste = 5

4 3 4,5

no negative impact = 5

0 2 3,5/5

Social Question Value chain support: Is this VC supported by the government?

Are there many legislations, laws and policies that need to be implemented and how do they influence VC upgrading?

Are the legislations, laws and policies well enforced?

How well do available public services support BSF VC upgrading?

What training do all actors receive and what is the technical capacity to improve their knowledge?

Health: Is there enough health protection for all actors and their family?

Are there good working conditions?

How easy is it to farm BSF?

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

Score (0-5)

Extra information

2 0 0 2 3

1 1 4 60

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda Social groups: Do public and private sectors collaborate?

How easily can all actors access the support services and inputs?

Are there specific services for disadvantaged groups?

How are sociocultural norms supporting VC upgrading?

Are there possibilities to overcome adverse sociocultural norms that impede VC activities?

How is this VC impacted by the sociopolitical situation?

How resistant is this VC to sociopolitical risks, and what is its ability to manage political and institutional risks?

How constant is the salary for all actors of this VC? Is this VC inclusive to all social groups?

Are poor rural people included in every step of the VC? Does this VC help with reducing poverty?

Total score:

2023-2024

1 2 2,5 2 2 3,5 1 4 4 2 3 2,1/5

Partnership Question Do all social groups including women play a role in the VC? Are there enabling measures such as awarenessraising, inclusive policy dialogue and capacitybuilding of target groups in place?

Are there collaborations between different VC? Are the partnerships beneficial for both parties?

Is knowledge being shared among actors?

Total score:

Score (0-5) 2,5

Extra information

1 2 3,5 2,5 2,3/5

Food security Question Are resources used in this VC unusable for human consumption?

Are resources used in this VC unusable for animal consumption?

How much land is used for BSF farming? (no land = 5) Can BSF be used for human consumption?

Does BSF give access to safe and nutritious food?

Are BSF affordable and accessible for everyone?

Does BSF have nutrition improvement potential? Can it fill a dietary gap, decrease malnutrition, improve food security or decrease incidents of child stunting?

Total score:

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

Score (0-5) 5

Extra information

1 4,5 2,5 2,5 3,5 3 3,1/5

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Profitability General In this part all needed information is listed to calculate the profitability.

Investment Starting costs: Housing Optional extra costs Fixed costs: Starting population (total cost) Nets Tarp Fly cage Crates Jerrycans Racks Small sieve Big sieve Crushing machine Drying machine Optional extra costs

Quantity Unit

Cost per piece Total price

1 Nets 1 Tarps 1 Fly cages Crates 10 Jerrycans 1 Racks 1 Small sieves Big sieves Crushing machines Drying machines

0 0

0 RWF 0 RWF

8000 6000 15000 30000

8000 RWF 6000 RWF 15000 RWF 30000 RWF 0 RWF 50000 RWF 30000 RWF 2500 RWF 0 RWF 0 RWF 0 RWF 0 RWF

5000 30000 2500

Total:

141500 RWF

General information: How many times do you harvest larvae per week Average amount of dried larvae harvested each time How much taxes do you pay

1 times 25 kg 0 RWF

Variable costs for one larvae harvest: Variable costs Maize bran for BSF Manure Kitchen/ market waste Other substrates Cost for employees Water Electricity

Quantity Unit Cost per unit Total price 20 kg 200 4000 RWF 150 kg 0 0 RWF kg 0 RWF kg 0 RWF h/harvest 0 RWF l 0 RWF kWh 0 RWF Total:

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4000 RWF

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Profit of sales per month: Profit Quantity Unit Larvae sold as feed kg Starting population sold g Substrate sold as fertilizer kg

Price per Unit Total price 0 RWF 0 RWF 0 RWF Total:

0 RWF

Proteins given to livestock: Protein cost before BSF Quantity Unit Cost per unit Soya 5 kg 1000 Fish meal 6 kg 1600 Other protein source kg

Protein cost with BSF Dried BSF Soya Fish meal Other protein source

Quantity Unit Cost per unit 6 kg 160 kg 1000 kg 1600 kg 0

Results:

Cost for other protein Cost for 1 kg of BSF Savings per kg of BSF produced

2433,33 RWF 160,00 RWF

Payback period Net profit per year

23 days 2926367 RWF

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

2273,33

RWF

63

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

9.7 Questionnaire: large-scale farming This appendix is filled in twice, once for the small-scale farmers and once for the large-scale farmers. For both questionnaires an average of the different farmers in this category is used.

These questions are generated based on the “OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES ON IFAD’S ENGAGEMENT IN PRO-POOR VALUE CHAIN DEVELOPMENT”, (IFAD, 2020) and “Selecting value chains for sustainable food value chain development” (Selecting value chain for sustainable food value chain development, 2021).

Sustainability General Questions were generated to assess the sustainability of BSFf. The questions are divided into different topics as described in the methodology. Each of these questions is given a score between 0 and 5. A low score means there is still potential for growth on the sustainability area. A high score means it is sustainable. Extra information is given to clarify the score when needed. For each topic a total score is generated by calculating the average percentage.

Economic Question Market: Is there a market demand for BSF? Can BSF expand to new markets?

Is BSF being exported?

How evenly spread is market influence and control?

Efficiency: Can costs be easily reduced?

Are the consumption volumes similar to the production volumes?

Can efficiency or scale up operations be increased?

Value chain and actors: Is this value chain (VC) resistant to market shocks?

Is this value chain resistant to logistical risks?

Can the risks be managed at each value chain stage?

Have all actors a say in the overall governance of this VC? How much do all actors of the VC trust each other?

Is there transparency through all collaborations?

Competitive advantages: Are the costs lower compared to competing products?

Does BSF have competitive advantages?

Are there possibilities for value addition and product differentiation?

Money: Is BSF farming economically and financially viable?

Are there private or public investments?

Is there good access to productive assets/capital/natural resource endowments?

Total score:

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

Score (0-5)

Extra information

3 4 1 0 3 3,5 4 3 3 3 1 3 2 4 5 1

4 2 3

If VSF does not supply the materials

2,8/5 64

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

Environmental Question Resources: Can low quality natural resources be used?

Are the needed resources easily available in Rwanda?

How and how far are the necessary transportations?

Resilience: How resistant is the BSF value chain to weather related risks?

Are weather-related risks easily managed?

How resistant is the BSF value chain to environmental and biological risks?

How resistant is the BSF VC to climate change?

How easily can the BSF VC be climate proofed?

Efficiency: Is the energy used renewable?

Is water efficiently used?

How much waste is generated?

Other impacts: Does BSFf have a low impact on greenhouse gasses?

How easily can practises be put in place to reduce hazardous gas emissions?

What is the impact of BSF on the surrounding ecosystems?

What management and government mechanisms are in place concerning BSF farming in Rwanda?

Is there enough genetic diversity to not have a negative impact on biodiversity?

Total score:

Score (0-5)

Extra information

4 3,5 3

The closer, the higher score

4 4,5 3 3,5 4 3 5 4,5

no waste = 5

4 2 4,5

no negative impact = 5

1 2 3,5/5

Social Question Value chain support: Is this VC supported by the government?

Are there many legislations, laws and policies that need to be implemented and how do they influence VC upgrading?

Are the legislations, laws and policies well enforced?

How well do available public services support BSF VC upgrading?

What training do all actors receive and what is the technical capacity to improve their knowledge?

Health: Is there enough health protection for all actors and their family?

Are there good working conditions?

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

Score (0-5)

Extra information

3 1 1 3 3

1 1 65

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda How easy is it to farm BSF? Social groups: Do public and private sectors collaborate?

How easily can all actors access the support services and inputs?

Are there specific services for disadvantaged groups?

How are sociocultural norms supporting VC upgrading?

Are there possibilities to overcome adverse sociocultural norms that impede VC activities?

How is this VC impacted by the sociopolitical situation?

How resistant is this VC to sociopolitical risks, and what is its ability to manage political and institutional risks?

How constant is the salary for all actors of this VC? Is this VC inclusive to all social groups?

Are poor rural people included in every step of the VC? Does this VC help with reducing poverty?

Total score:

2023-2024 4 1 3 2 2 2 4 1 4 4 3 3 2,4/5

Partnership Question Do all social groups including women play a role in the VC? Are there enabling measures such as awarenessraising, inclusive policy dialogue and capacitybuilding of target groups in place?

Are there collaborations between different VC? Are the partnerships beneficial for both parties?

Is knowledge being shared among actors?

Total score:

Score (0-5) 2

Extra information

1 3 4 1 2,2/5

Food security Question Are resources used in this VC unusable for human consumption?

Are resources used in this VC unusable for animal consumption?

How much land is used for BSF farming? (no land = 5) Can BSF be used for human consumption?

Does BSF give access to safe and nutritious food?

Are BSF affordable and accessible for everyone?

Does BSF have nutrition improvement potential? Can it fill a dietary gap, decrease malnutrition, improve food security or decrease incidents of child stunting?

Total score:

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

Score (0-5) 5

Extra information

1 4,5 2,5 2,5 3,5 3 3,1/5 66

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

Profitability General In this part all needed information is listed to calculate the profitability.

Investment Starting costs: Housing Optional extra costs Fixed costs: Starting population (total cost) Nets Tarp Fly cage Crates Jerrycans Racks Small sieve Big sieve Crushing machine Drying machine Optional extra costs

Quantity Unit

Cost per piece Total price

2 Nets 4 Tarps 2 Fly cages 16 Crates 10 Jerrycans 2 Racks 1 Small sieves 1 Big sieves 1 Crushing machines 1 Drying machines

4500000

4500000 RWF 0 RWF

8000 6000 15000 30000 15000 5000 30000 2500 1500 800000 1500000

8000 RWF 12000 RWF 60000 RWF 60000 RWF 240000 RWF 50000 RWF 60000 RWF 2500 RWF 1500 RWF 800000 RWF 1500000 RWF 0 RWF

Total:

7294000 RWF

General information: How many times do you harvest larvae per week Average amount of dried larvae harvested each time How much taxes do you pay

2 times 80 kg 28 RWF

Variable costs for one larvae harvest: Variable costs Maize bran for BSF Manure Kitchen/ market waste Other substrates Cost for employees Water Electricity

Quantity Unit Cost per unit Total price 50 kg 200 10000 RWF kg 0 RWF 390 kg 120 46800 RWF kg 0 RWF 10 h/harvest 1250 12500 RWF l 0 RWF kWh 0 RWF Total:

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

69300 RWF

67

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

Profit of sales per month: Profit Larvae sold as feed Starting population sold Substrate sold as fertilizer

Quantity Unit 50 kg 5000 g 10 kg

Price per Unit Total price 2000 100000 RWF 3000 15000000 RWF 700 7000 RWF Total:

15107000 RWF

Proteins given to livestock: Protein cost before BSF Quantity Unit Cost per unit Soya 4 kg 1000 Fish meal kg Other protein source kg

Protein cost with BSF Dried BSF Soya Fish meal Other protein source

Quantity Unit Cost per unit 2 kg 866,25 0 kg 1000 kg 0 kg 0

Results:

Cost for other protein Cost for 1 kg of BSF Savings per kg of BSF produced

2000,00 RWF 866,25 RWF

Payback period Net profit per year

285 days 8928972 RWF

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

1133,75

RWF

68

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

9.8 Experiments Result with net 1A net Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

10,30 g

136

13

2

10,05 g

112

11

3

9,15 g

153

17

4

11,00 g

198

18

5

9,50 g

157

17

Average larvae/ 1 g

15

Total weight

2,2 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,74 kg

Larvae per box

26100

1B net Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

10,85 g

391

36

2

9,15 g

330

36

3

9,85 g

409

42

4

9,30 g

392

42

5

9,70 g

368

38

Average larvae/ 1 g

39

Total weight

1,6 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,15 kg

Larvae per box

44620

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

69

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

1C net Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

9,15 g

424

46

2

9,75 g

417

43

3

9,30 g

397

43

4

9,20 g

484

53

5

9,55 g

441

46

Average larvae/ 1 g

46

Total weight

1,55 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,10 kg

Larvae per box

50820

Results without net 1A WN Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

10,75 g

101

9

2

10,55 g

91

9

3

12,40 g

130

10

4

9,70 g

68

7

5

10,85 g

116

11

Average larvae/ 1 g

9

Total weight

1,85 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,40 kg

Larvae per box

12600

1B WN Number Weight of sample

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

70

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

1

10,85 g

131

12

2

11,00 g

138

13

3

10,95 g

128

12

4

10,70 g

122

11

5

11,10 g

119

11

Average larvae/ 1 g

12

Total weight

1,5kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,05kg

Larvae per box

12390

1C WN Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

9,65 g

82

8

2

9,75 g

115

12

3

9,80 g

137

14

4

9,75 g

123

13

5

10,05 g

118

12

Average larvae/ 1 g

12

Total weight

1,5 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,05 kg

Larvae per box

12390

Experiments with 1 g eggs 2A 1 g Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

9,80 g

366

37

2

9,90 g

344

35

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

71

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

3

9,40 g

289

31

4

9,00 g

275

31

5

9,50 g

344

36

Average larvae/ 1 g

34

Total weight

1,5 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,05 kg

Larvae per box

35700

2B 1 g Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

9,50 g

309

33

2

9,60 g

279

29

3

9,10 g

302

33

4

9,20 g

302

33

5

9,20 g

285

31

Average larvae/ 1 g

32

Total weight

1,5 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,05 kg

Larvae per box

33390

2C 1 g Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

9,20 g

366

40

2

9,85 g

312

32

3

9,70 g

323

33

4

9,90 g

282

28

5

9,50 g

302

32

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

72

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda Average larvae/ 1 g

2023-2024 33

Total weight

1,5 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,05 kg

Larvae per box

34867

Experiments with 10 g eggs 2A 10 g In the first two samples even the smallest larvae were counted. Only 5 g of sample was used due to the huge amount and the small size of larvae.

Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

5,00 g

524

105

2

5,15 g

472

92

Average larvae/ 1 g

98

The other three samples were counted without taking the smallest larvae into account.

Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

3

5,50 g

376

68

4

5,40g

384

71

5

5,05 g

344

68

Average larvae/ 1 g

69

Total weight

1,5 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,05 kg

Larvae per box in total

103136

Larvae in box without small larvae

72658

2B 10 g In the first two samples even the smallest larvae were counted. There was only used 5 g of sample due to the huge amount and small size of larvae.

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

73

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

5,10 g

389

76

2

5,5 g

452

82

Average larvae/ 1 g

79

The other three samples were counted without taking in account the smallest larvae.

Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

3

5,10 g

292

57

4

5,10 g

283

55

5

5,15 g

278

54

Average larvae/ 1 g

56

Total weight

1,60 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,15 kg

Larvae per box in total

91112

Larvae in box without small larvae

63912

2C 10 g Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

5,35 g

915

171

2

5,60 g

974

174

Average larvae/ 1 g

172

Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

3

5,60 g

596

106

4

5,05 g

588

116

5

5,35 g

629

118

Average larvae/ 1 g

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

113 74

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

Total weight

1,7 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,25 kg

Larvae per box in total

215598

Larvae in box without small larvae

141848

2023-2024

3A 1,1 l Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

9,65 g

85

9

2

10,55 g

88

8

Average larvae/ 1 g

9

Total weight

2,85 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

2,40 kg

Larvae per box

20579

3B 1,4 l Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

6,10 g

169

28

2

5,10g

133

26

Average larvae/ 1 g

27

Total weight

2,45 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

2 kg

Larvae per box

53783

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

75

Black Soldier Fly farming in Rwanda

2023-2024

3C 1,7 l Number Weight of sample

Amount of larvae

Larvae/ 1 g

1

5,05 g

277

55

2

5,35 g

282

53

Average larvae/ 1 g

54

Total weight

2 kg

Weight of box

0,45 kg

Weight of larvae mix

1,55 kg

Larvae per box

83360

Huys, L. and Vints, L.

76