We are in the middle of a global food crisis. Most of us might only be dimly aware of it, wondering how people make ends meet after every trip to the grocery store. In truth, as many as 828 million people around the world don’t know where their next meal will come from.
Unless drastic action is taken, the crisis is only going to get worse. With human population growth, global demand for protein is estimated to increase 60% by 2050.
And given that indicators suggest we’ve reached a peak in the amount of land available for farming, innovations across the food value chain will be vital to feeding the world.
Fortunately, we have a long history to draw from when it comes to averting food disasters. Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug’s work with wheat and the kickstarting of India’s Green Revolution are the most well-known, but many others have made substantial contributions over the decades and centuries.
Today, a new wave of innovators are following in their footsteps. Aided by rapid advances in technology, they’re transforming everything from land and crop management to food supply chains and the ability to farm in urban environments. Some are even harvesting the power of insects to reduce pressure on arable land while also dealing with the twin scourge of food waste.
Land pressures
Before looking at how insects and Black Soldier Fly larvae can ease pressure on arable land while also reducing food waste, it’s important to get an improved understanding of what those pressures are.
Take UK land use, for instance. More than 70% of all UK land is currently used for agriculture, with 85% of that used for livestock and their feed. At a global level, meanwhile, grazing pastures and land used to grow crops for animal feed account for 77% of global farming land.
While livestock represents a valuable source of protein for humans, it should be clear that there’s little room left when it comes to expanding the amount of land used for agriculture. Considering the rate that the human race is growing, this is an intimidating prospect.
That is especially true when you consider that agricultural land expansion can put some of the world’s most sensitive ecosystems at risk. An investigation released earlier this year, for instance, found that 800 million trees and 1.7 million hectares of Amazon Rainforest had been cleared in six years to support the world’s appetite for Brazilian beef.
So, it is critical that we find ways of making land use more efficient. Enter the Black Soldier Fly. Its larvae contain between 43% and 75% protein by weight as well as vital macronutrients such as calcium. While they can’t be used to feed cattle, they can be used to feed other animals such as chickens, pigs, and fish. In fact, research shows that insect farming requires between 50%- 90% less land in comparison to conventional livestock.
An additional advantage of fly farms is that the fly larvae can be fed on food waste. So, not only can they contribute to making agriculture more efficient but they can also help reduce the 9.5 million tons of food waste that ends up in UK landfills every year and can help put a dent in the third of food produced for human consumption currently being lost along the supply chain.
The frass fertiliser that the larvae produce as a byproduct can also be used to make crop land more productive.
Democratisation through tech
While fly farms have operated for a while now (a commercial fly farm opened in Cape Town as early as 2010), operating them has typically been a capital and knowledge-intensive exercise.
If you wanted to set up your own fly farm the old-fashioned way it might take a year before you are set up and require planning permission, specialist engineers, entomologists, specialist equipment, HVAC and climate control experts and about £1m minimum in investment.
You’d also need PhD level expertise to ensure that the feed, water, and humidity levels remain balanced. That means that fly farms have traditionally been the preserve of specialist operators who have the necessary capital and expertise.
Fortunately, a combination of technology and modular design is changing that.
Internet-of-Things-based sensors and software advances, for example, mean that many of the complex processes associated with fly farming can now be automated. Technology has also helped shrink down some components, meaning that it’s now possible to run a fly farm from something as small as a shipping container.
That in turn means that ordinary farmers can make use of fly farms, further enhancing their ability to contribute to a circular economy. The modular nature of shipping containers means that they can also be scaled simply. A farmer can try one out and then expand if they’re happy with the initial results.
Multi-pronged approach
There is no doubt that the ongoing global crisis urgently needs addressing. And while fly farms can’t fix the issue on their own, they can help ease land pressure while also addressing issues around food waste.
They should prove a valuable tool in the multi-pronged approach that will be needed to effectively address the food crisis. We have averted famine and starvation before. There’s no reason why, with the right approach and judicious use of technology, we can’t do the same today.
Share
