This presentation was held at AIDF's Asia Food Security Summit 2014 in Jakarta. It takes a look at edible insect farming from a food and nutrition security perspective and Veterinarians without Borders' (VWB) work on insects in Laos. Farming of edible insects has big potential to ease the double burden of poverty and malnutrition. In many countries people love insects, and farmed insects are an excellent source of valuable protein, fats, and micro-nutrients. Insect farming is easy to learn, requires minimal time and money, and provides food for families. Insect farming has also significant advantages over the collection of wild insects in terms of improved availability, accessibility, and utilization of insects. Environmentally sustainable, insects have a much better feed conversion and produce significantly less greenhouse gases than conventional livestock. Moreover, the sales of insects and insect products can provide additional income for poor people. VWB has launched 2 cricket farming projects in Central Laos, involving a total of 36 households in two provinces, working mostly with women household members. VWB's action-research approach involves the support of farmers to improve family diets, income, and also value-added foods such as cricket noodles. VWB is also studying the impact of cricket farming on child and maternal nutrition.

1. Thomas Weigel
Project Manager Mini-Livestock
VWB/VSF-Canada
Nabong, Laos
Small-scale farming of Edible Insects
& Potential Contributions to Community Nutrition
in Southeast Asia (SEA)

3. Outline of the Presentation
1. Insect consumption: where, why & barriers
2. Insect farming: Sustainable Development &
Food/Nutrition Security
3. VWB‘s Cricket Rearing Project in Laos
4. Value-Added Insect Products
5. Challenges to Insect Farming & Products
6. Conclusions & Recommendations

4. 1. Cricket farming: an innovative approach of adressing food &
nutrition insecurity & a sustainable livelihoods activity, which
takes climate change into account
2. Insect-based products – new products with potential for additional
income & nutrition
3. Development community has to address challenges
Key messages of this presentation

5. Context of the Presentation
• Increasing world population & increasing demand for animal-based protein
• FAO estimates: 70% increase of food production to feed 9 billion by 2050
• Animal feed production increasingly competing for natural resources with human
food, fuel production & urbanization
• Limits of conventional livestock production (e.g. land conversion), decrease
of people active in agriculture
• 70% of agricultural land used directly/indirectly for meat production
• Inter-linkages between agricultural/livestock production & climate change
• Prevailing food & nutrition insecurity (62% of world‘s undernourished live
in Asia)

6. Eating Insects – World wide
• Worldwide 2 billion people eat
insects- 1,900 edible insect
species
• 97% of children & adults in Laos
eat insects
Myth: Insects = Emergency food
Fact: People love eating insects!

7. Insect Trading at Dong Maakhai Market, Laos

8. Insect species traded
Stinkbugs Water scavangers Bamboo worms Mole cricket
Weaver ant pupae Grasshoppers Grasshopper (big) Beetles
Stinkbugs Water scavangers Bamboo worms Mole cricket
Beetles
Stinkbugs Water scavangers Bamboo worms Mole cricket
Weaver ant pupae Grasshoppers Grasshopper (big) Beetles
Stinkbugs Water scavangers Bamboo worms Mole cricketStinkbugs Water scavangers Bamboo worms

9. Sales of Insects at Nong Xeuam Restaurant

10. Eating Insects – High Income Countries
People more reserved...
But...
• In Japan, insects part of traditional diets
• In Italy, Croatia & Germany: cheese with insects!
Moreover, ...

11. ... changes are happening
Increased attention by scientific &
development community
Insects & products: novel & exotic
food in Europe & the US

13. Why promote eating of insects?
1. They are tasty! 2 billion people love to eat them!
2. Health
• Healthy & nutritious: rich in protein, fat & micronutrients
• 64.5 mill. ppl. undernourished in SEA
• Laos: 50% of children <5 yrs stunted
• Micronutrient deficiencies: 40% of children <5 yrs. anaemic & vitamin A deficient in Laos
3. Environment
• Climate friendly & land-independent production
• Efficient food conversion

14. FAO/INFOODS. (2013). FAO/INFOODS Food Composition Database for Biodiversity Version 2.1 –
BioFoodComp2.1 (pp. 1-31). Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/i3560e/i3560e.pdf

15. Barriers to insect consumption
Limited availability of wild insects
• Most edible insects collected from nature
• Dependent on season
• High demand
• Environmental factors
Limited accessibility of wild insects
• Time: Women involved in household, childcare & other duties
• Insects are expensive
Utilization issues related to wild insects
• Chemical risks: pesticides, heavy metals & other toxines
• Parasitical risks: intestinal flukes in water insects & beetles (raw
consumption)

16. The solution...
1. A sustainable livelihoods activity, which
also takes climate change into account!
2. Improves food & nutrition security at the
household level & has the potential to go
beyond!
Insect Farming

17. Insect Farming: a sustainable livelihoods activity
1. Economically sustainable
• Low capital input
• Frequent income within short time
• Potential for value-added products
2. Socially sustainable
• Culturally accepted: insects already part of
traditional diets
• Inclusive: pro-poor, suitable for vulnerable groups,
urban & rural

18. 3. Environmentally sustainable
• Climate-friendly production
• No land conversion/degradation
• Preservation of wild insect populations
4. Climate change considerate
• Prevention: complementary protein supply
• Adaptation: less impacted by climate-related events
• Mitigation: shorter-term availability of nutrients as
compared to other agricultural activties (45 days)
Insect Farming: a sustainable livelihoods activity

19. Insect Farming for Food & Nutrition Security
1. Increased availability
• Sufficient amount of insects the whole year
• Enables production of insect-based products
2. Increased accessibility
• No need to buy; often gifted to relatives/friends;
sold at lower price in rural areas
• No need to collect (women)
• Insect-based products & fortified foods reach
wider range of consumers
• Income generation: more money available to
buy food

20. Insect Farming for Food & Nutrition Security
3. Improved Utilization
• Production in controlled environment = less
hazards
• Fosters home gardening = source of feed
• Promotion together with health/nutrition
education

21. Main Partner
• Faculty of Agriculture/National University of
Laos
Activities
• Consultation & Farm visit
• Workshops & Trainings
• Mentoring
Successes to date
• 15 families running cricket farms – 14 women!
• 110kg harvest in August!
VWB‘S Cricket Rearing Project

22. Cage construction
Cricket Rearing
Activities
• Farmer-2-Farmer exchange
• Workshops & Trainings
• Mentoring
Successes to date
• 15 families running cricket farms
• 110kg harvest in August!
Food processing
Healthy diets
Cricket farming & lifecycle
Setting up cagesVisit of cricket farm

23. Setting up the cricket farms

24. 40 days later...

26. Insect products
Value-added products
• Income opportunity &
benefits for nutrition
• Thailand = showcase
Fortified foods
• Micronutrient-rich foods for complementary feeding of infants/young children
• E.g. WinFood Cereals

27. Cricket products
Exploring products
• Fried crickets
• Chili sauce with crickets
• Cricket chips
• Cricket noodles

28. Workshop on cricket processing
Frying the crickets
Adding spices Bamboo soup + crickets
Enjoying the food together

29. Training on Healthy Diets
Cricket menu
• Cricket soup
• Spicy-sour cricket salad (yam)
• Cricket larb

30. Challenges to Insect Farming
& Products
Limited experiences
• ... with other insect species
• ... with production of insect-based products
Economic issues
• Commercial chicken feed expensive
• Acessing markets outside rural areas difficult
• Limited facilities to produce range of value-added products
Ethical conflicts
• Human food vs. animal feed production
• Supply for local consumers vs. export

31. Conclusions & Recommendations
Insect farming is a culturally appropriate means to improve food & nutrition
security
Insect products have big potential for additional income & nutritious food

32. 1. Pilot studies to adress knowledge gaps
• Suitable insect species & rearing techniques
• Low-cost alternative to commercial chicken feed (e.g. Moringa)
• Value-added products suitable for village production
2. Explore options for food fortification
3. Investment & Support
• Development of village production facilities (grants, investment, suitable public SME-
development programs)
• Marketing support
Conclusions & Recommendations

33. 4. Knowledge exchange
• Set up communities of practice & share best pratices/lessons learned
5. Promote benefits of insect farming for local communities
• Ensure that food/nutrition security for poorer people are kept in focus & not become
secondary to promoting export & feed production for livestock
Conclusions & Recommendations

34. Thanks to all our partners, funders and my colleagues Sonia Fèvre, Dr. Malavanh, Dr.
Bounpheng, Dr. Thonglom, Dr. Sayvisene and Dr. Daovy for making this work possible!
VWB/VSF
https://www.vetswithoutborders.ca
https://www.facebook.com/VetswithoutBorders
http://blog.vetswithoutborders.ca
Thomas Weigel
Email: thomas@vetswithoutborders.ca
Twitter: VWB_VSF_Insects
Thank you for your attention!
Any Questions?

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