youth, women, and refugees. Frontier agricultural technologies also require less manual labor than conventional agriculture and livestock rearing, and small-scale operations can be established economically (see chapters 4 and 5). Both technologies can help food-importing countries become more food independent, or self-sufficient, by producing more food locally. The increased food self-sufficiency helps improve national accounts and can alleviate the stress on hard currency reserves faced by many African ministers of finance. Such reserves are often used for fertilizer or animal feed imports, such as soybeans from South America. The benefits of frontier agricultural technologies are listed in box 1.1. Figure 1.4 demonstrates how frontier agriculture fits within the circular food economy and generates these benefits. To summarize, farmed insects feed on organic waste, including organic agricultural or food industrial waste. This turns a liability of the linear food economy into a benefit or asset of the circular food economy, by reducing and reusing society’s organic waste. The figure shows that farmed insects and hydroponic crops are sources of protein, micronutrients, oil, and biofertilizer. These insect protein sources are then converted to feed for fish and livestock, which humans consume. Humans can also consume farmed insects and hydroponic products directly. The waste from insect and hydroponic farming is then fed back into the system and used as substrate and organic fertilizer.
BOX 1.1 Benefits from Frontier Agriculture for Countries Affected by Fragility, Conflict, and Violence • Increased domestic production of nutritious foods and feed • Reduced waste and pollution compared with the linear production model • Improved sustainability of local food systems and natural resources because of less water requirements, reduced less land and biodiversity degradation, and fewer greenhouse gas emissions during the food and feed production process compared with traditional agriculture • Improved soil health through application of organic fertilizers consisting of the insect manure (frass) produced during the insect farming process • Improved macroeconomic situations and increased national savings of hard currency through reduction of domestic reliance on protein imports • Increased access to jobs, incomes, and livelihoods, particularly along the food value chain • Improved peacebuilding and resilience to fragility, conflict, and violence through the creation of more stable and sustainable food supply chains that provide economic opportunities and require fewer natural resources
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Insect and Hydroponic Farming in Africa
