1.
www.icipe.org
Research and innovation: key inputs for sustainable
development
Segenet Kelemu
Director General & CEO, icipe

2.
www.icipe.org
General facts – International Centre of Insect Physiology and
Ecology (icipe)
• A Center of Excellence in Africa- for research and capacity building for insect science
and its application (almost 50 years old)
• An intergovernmental organization- Charter signed by 13 countries worldwide
• Four major Thematic areas of health research: Plants, animals, humans and the
environment
• A highly successful capacity building program with
150-180 graduate students annually; 50 interns
• >500 staff (42 nationalities) and 100-150 contracted workers
• 300 global partners

3.
www.icipe.org
icipe’s mission
To help alleviate poverty, ensure food
security and improve the overall health
status of peoples of the tropics by
developing and extending management
tools and strategies for harmful and useful
arthropods, while preserving the natural
resource base through research and
capacity building.
General facts - icipe

4.
www.icipe.org
General facts - icipe
• Stockholm Convention Regional Centre;
• FAO designated center for vectors and vector-borne animal diseases;
• A key and lead partner of WHO-AFRO/icipe for vector management;
• World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)-designated OIE Collaborating Centre
for Bee Health in Africa;
• The Centre is 100% solar power;
• A member of AIRCA (Association of International Research and Development
Centers for Agriculture- 9 non-CGIAR centers)

5.
www.icipe.org
How we work
Plant
• Staple food crops
• Horticultural crops
• Migrant pests
• Insects for food and
feed
Animal
• Tsetse flies
• Ticks
• Biting flies
Plant & Animal Health
• Biodiversity and
conservation
• Bee Health
• Commercial Insects
and Applied
Bioprospecting
• Climate change
Environment Health
Human Health
Capacity Building & Institutional Development;
BioInnovate Africa; Regional Scholarship and
Innovation Fund
(cross-cutting)
• Malaria research
• Leishmaniasis
• Zoonotic
diseases
• Sleeping
sicknesss

6.
www.icipe.org
Why insects?
• Of the 1.4 million described animal species on earth 1
million are insects
• They pollinate many of our fruits, flowers, vegetables and
other plants
• They beneficial - many are predatory or parasitic
• Indicators of environmental change
• Primary or secondary decomposers
• Major role in the food web
• Interesting part of landscape and nature
• They are harmful - cause damage to crop, livestock and
transmit diseases (e.g. mosquitoes, tsetse flies)

7.
www.icipe.org
The push-pull technology
1 cereal + 2 perennial
companion crops
Push-pull encompasses
intercropping maize with the
legume Desmodium and a
border row of Napier grass
around the plot; both
Desmodium and Napier
grass/Brachiaria are perennial
fodder plants

8.
www.icipe.org
1= (E)-ß-ocimene;
2= α-terpinolene;
3= β-caryophyllene;
4= humulene;
5= (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-
nonatriene;
6= α-cedrene;
7= hexanal;
8= (E)-2-hexenal;
9= (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol;
10= (Z)-3-hexen-1-yl acetate ;
11= 5,7,2′,4′-tetrahydroxy-6-(3-
methylbut-2-enyl)isoflavanone
(uncinanone A);
12= 4′′,5′′-dihydro-5,2′,4′-
trihydroxy-5′′-isopropenylfurano-
(2′′,3′′;7,6)-isoflavanone
(uncinanone B); 13= 4′′,5′′-
dihydro-2′-
methoxy-5,4′-dihydroxy-5′′-
isopropenylfurano-(2′′,3′′;7,6)-
isoflavanone (uncinanone
C), 14= di-C-glycosylflavone 6-C-
α-L-arabinopyranosyl-8-C-β-
Dglucopyranosylapigenin
Khan, Midega et al., 2010, J. Exp Bot 61, 4185–4196
Midega et al., 2015. Ecol Entomol 40(Sup1), 70-81

9.
Lepidopteran stemborers :
80% yield losses
$1.5 billion loss annually
Striga : 100 million people affected

10.
Aflatoxin is a potent toxin produced
by a fungus:
• Immunosuppressive
• Growth retardant
• Carcinogenic
• Lethal
• Widespread

11.
January 2018
Fall armyworm: Economic impact on maize: US$6.2 billion annually (CABI, 2017)

12.
www.icipe.org
Extent of Fall Armyworm damage in
Africa
• 37 million ha of maize fields in
Africa affected
✓ 3 million ha are large-scale producers
✓ >98% are smallholder family farmers

13.
www.icipe.org
Fall armyworm – Life cycle
Egg
▪  1500 eggs/female
▪ 2 – 3 days egg period
Larva
▪ Six instars
▪ 14 – 30 days
▪ Characteristic marks
▪ Conceals during the day
Pupa
▪ Soil pupation, rarely in
dry leaf cocoon
▪ 2 to 8 cm depth
▪ 8 – 30 days duration
▪ Susceptible to cold
Adult
▪ 7 to 21 days
▪ Up to 3 weeks oviposition
period
▪ Prefers undamaged plants
Total life cycle
31 – 81 days

14.
Kenya Ethiopia

15.
www.icipe.org
The Invasive Alien Plant Problem
Spread of invasive alien plant species
negatively impacts on
• Agriculture (crop losses 25-90%, soil
health)
• Livestock productivity (20-50%)
• Water security
• Biodiversity
• Bee productivity
• Human health
Livelihoods of millions of
people

16.
www.icipe.org
Indirect impact of Parthenium hysterophorus on human health

17.
www.icipe.org
Vertically transmitted symbiont of
Anopheles Mosquitoes discovered by icipe
researchers
Microsporidia penetrating
embryo in the mosquito’s
ovaries
Novel maternally
inherited microsporidian
discovered in Anopheles

18.
www.icipe.org
Symbiont has a strong malaria transmission
blocking phenotype
Absence of malaria parasite in
mosquitoes harbouring
Microsporidia MB after feeding on
infective blood indicates complete
transmission-blocking

19.
www.icipe.org
Sub-Saharan Africa has high cattle density
Globally-Livestock supports
Livelihood for 1.3 billion people
Alsan, 2015

20.
www.icipe.org
Tsetse traps & pastoralists: attractants/repellents
…Other animals which are
apparently avoided by all
tsetse flies as a source of
food, except on isolated
occasions, include impala,
Zebra, wildebeest and
waterbuck, all occurring in
large numbers in many
areas from which
collections were made
(WEITZ, 1963)
• Waterbuck are present in tsetse habitats but not fed upon
• Through series of field experiments 5 – component blend
(WRB) was identified at icipe.

21.
www.icipe.org
Tsetse repellent collar technology
Through series of field experiments 4 –
component blend (Bett et al., 2015)
1
2
3
3
:
:
:
Saini et al., 2017

22.
www.icipe.org
A new dispenser Cost is the reason why we ae going
in this direction
Okal et al., inprep
40 USD to <5 USD
Registered in Kenya

23.
www.icipe.org
Odour Collection from zebra
Olabimpe Olaide, PhD student

24.
www.icipe.org
A meaty planet
The Economist, May 4th, 2019
“In the decade to 2017,
global meat
consumption rose by
an average of 1.9% a
year and fresh dairy
consumption
by 2.1%—both about
twice as fast as
population growth.”

25.
www.icipe.org
Insects for food/feed
• About 1 million of the 1.4 million described animal species on earth are insects
✓ Insects form part of the traditional diet of at least 2 billion people
✓ More than 2,000 species are reported to be consumed by humans
✓ Insects therefore have a significant role to play in improving food and
nutritional security

26.
www.icipe.org
Background
Source: FAO, 2012; van Huis et al., 2013

27.
www.icipe.org
Insect as food
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
%ofedibleinsects
Van Huis,2003 icipe, 2014
~ 470 insect species consumed
~ 256 in Central Africa region
~ 196 in Southern Africa region
~ 100 in Western Africa region

28.
www.icipe.org
Demand for feed
Feed production must increase by 70% to be able to meet the
global demand in 2050
✓ Annual global turnover
and sale of feed =
US$350 billion
✓ Feed represent 60-70% of
production cost
✓ Fishmeal & Soybean:
expensive– from $0.65
in 2013 to $1.44/kg in
2015

29.
www.icipe.org
Insects and carbon footprint
25 kg feed 1 kg beef
Oonincx et al. 2010, 2012
40% consumed
80% consumed
2.2 kg feed
1 kg cricket meat

30.
www.icipe.org
Nutritional profile – crude protein
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Macrotermessubhylanus
Ruspoliadifferens
Spodopteralittoralis
scalygrab
BSF5-Hermetiaillucens
Schistocercagregaria
Melanoceramenippe
Bactroceriadorsali
Ceratitiscosyra
RicemothPupae
Gynanisamaiya
Achetadomesticus
Anaphepanda
Calliphoravomitoria
Periplanetaamericana
Gryllusbimaculatus
BombyxMoriPupae
Bunaeaalcinoe
Ruspolianitidula
Gonimbrasiabelina
Fishmeal
Cottonseedcake
Sunflowermeal
CrudeProteinContent(%DM)
Insects Versus Other Protein Samples
Out of 30 insect species and instars analysed, 96% outperformed
fishmeal

31.
www.icipe.org
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
with wings, freeze-dried
without wings, freeze-dried
with wings, fried
without wings, fried
0,00
0,50
1,00
1,50
2,00
2,50
3,00
3,50
4,00
mg/100g
Masaka Mbarar
a
Kabale Hoima Kampala
❑Edible insects have high
amount of Riboflavin
(Vitamin B2)
❑Recommended daily
allowance of Vitamin B2 is
1.5mg/day

32.
www.icipe.org
Zeaxanthin
0,00
2,00
4,00
6,00
8,00
10,00
12,00
14,00
mg/100g
with wings, freeze-dried
without wings, freeze-dried
with wings, fried
without wings, fried
Masaka Mbarar
a
Kabale Hoima Kampala
❑Zeaxanthin is one of the most
common carotenoid alcohols
❑It is critical to ensure good
eyesight
❑Winged samples of edible
insects had higher levels of
Zeaxanthin
❑High levels of Zeaxathin were
observed in saturniid
caterpillars compared to others

33.
www.icipe.org
Zinc
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
mg/100g
with wings, freeze-dried
without wings, freeze-dried
with wings, fried
without wings, fried
Masaka Mbarar
a
Kabale Hoima Kampala
❑Very high levels of zinc
are observed in edible
insects as compared to
conventional sources
❑Red meat considered
to be a good source of
Zinc has only 4.8
mg/100g
❑While Required daily
allowance of Zinc per
day ranges from 8 – 12
mg

34.
Global Edible Oils Market: According to a
report by Persistence Market Research, the
global edible oils market is expected to
increase from $83.4 billion to $130.3
billion by 2024.
The global skin care products market size was valued at
$134.8 billion in 2018.
The global omega 3 market size is projected to reach
$3.77 billion by 2025 registering a compound
annual growth rate of 7.4%, according to a report by
Grand View Research, Inc

35.
www.icipe.org
YIELDS OF OILS FROM SELECTED EDIBLE AND
NON-EDIBLE INSECTS

36.
www.icipe.org
OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS IN SELECTED PLANT AND
EDIBLE AND NON-EDIBLE INSECT OILS

37.
www.icipe.org
VITAMIN E CONCENTRATIONS IN SELECTED PLANT
AND EDIBLE AND NON-EDIBLE INSECT OILS

38.
www.icipe.org
ANTI-OXIDANT FLAVONOIDS DETECTED AND THEIR
CONCENTRATIONS IN SELECTED PLANT AND
EDIBLE AND NON-EDIBLE INSECT OILS

39.
www.icipe.org
Our products

40.
www.icipe.org
Netherlands
Directorate-
General for
International
Cooperation.
Donors directly providing financial support to icipe
Acknowledgement

41.
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology
P.O. Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 (20) 8632000
E-mail: icipe@icipe.org
Website: www.icipe.org
Thank you
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