Insect Sector

Local governments also support insect farming in Korea. Subnational governments have set up nine agricultural research and extension services and 156 technology centers that carry out trainings and pilot projects for insect farming and related businesses. Local governments also support industrialization by establishing local Insect Resource Centers. These centers finance R&D and insect processing machines, such as microfine grinding mills, and implement educational projects with mentoring and personalized one-on-one training on various insect industry topics. Local governments allow insect farmers to visit the centers and learn by doing by assisting with insect rearing and processing, pest and disease management, and facility and equipment operations. These efforts are done in collaboration with universities and other research institutes. The Insect Resource Centers also promote insect products, and the industry more generally, at exhibitions and media events to raise the public’s awareness of the industry’s value and benefits.

Korea’s Comprehensive Insect Sector Plan, developed by MAFRA, maps out the country’s national insect strategy in two phases. The plan describes the status and prospects of the insect industry, a medium- and long-term investment plan, an R&D strategy, the institutional framework of governments and insect-related businesses, and the presidential decree promoting the insect industry. The first five-year phase of the plan lasted from 2011 to 2015, and the second five-year phase of the plan was from 2016 to 2020. The two five-year plans included an investment plan. Between 2011 and 2015, the Korean government allocated US$90 million to develop the insect industry, and between 2016 and 2020, the allocation increased by 20 percent to US$108 million (table 3.6).

TABLE 3.6 Korean Government Areas of Investment for the

Country’s Insect Sector

First phase five-year plan (2011–15)

Second phase five-year plan (2016–20)

total budget: us$92.7 million total budget: us$117.2 million • exploring insect resources and beneficial insects for potential inclusion in the industry: us$4.5 million • strengthening research and development support to commercialize insect resources: us$14.6 million • increasing support to insect farming families and for insect industrialization: us$73.6 million • Advancing consumption and distribution systems: us$3.4 million • exploring new markets: us$3 million • building a production base: us$98.2 million • expanding industrial infrastructure: us$12.7 million

Source: RDA 2020a. Note: A W USD exchange rate of 0.00084 was used in conversion from Korean won to US dollars.

Phase 1 of the Comprehensive Insect Sector Plan (2011–15) focused on the following:

• Institutional reform. Establishing an institutional framework to incorporate the insect industry into the country’s existing agricultural paradigm.

This included fine-tuning regulations to acknowledge insects as an edible food source for humans and stock feed for animals, establishing a new market for insect products, and adding insects as a temporary food and animal feed ingredient to the official compendium. • Production. Building a robust insect production base. This included establishing four regional insect resource industrialization centers, four insect production complex centers, and four hands-on learning centers, and conducting insect-rearing pilot projects, such as the “Support for the

Commercialization of Beneficial Insects Rearing” project to standardize and promote insect rearing, which worked with 39 farming families at eight sites. • Research and development. Financing and implementing 54 research projects. • Industrial workforce. Building professional workforce capacity. This included designating training organizations to develop insect industry experts and providing specialized training to enhance the insect competency of public officials. • Promotion. Increasing the public’s general awareness and understanding of the insect industry. This included promoting successful cases of insect production, increasing consumer participation, and holding insect cooking competitions to improve consumer perceptions.

Phase 2 of the Comprehensive Insect Sector Plan (2016–20) focused on the following:

• Consumption and distribution systems. Strengthening insect industry systems. This included building insect industry stakeholder networks; enhancing the role of producers and consumers in policy making; enhancing local and regional insect resource industrialization centers; using these centers to connect rearing, distribution, and consumption practices; and carrying out publicity campaigns through diverse media platforms. • New markets. Establishing new markets for insect producers. This included creating a support system for the insect industry, prioritizing insect industries that generate incomes for farming families, finding foreign markets for domestic produce, facilitating entry into those foreign markets, and expanding online and offline channels for insect consumption. • Production base. Building an effective production base. This included increasing the price competitiveness of insect products; increasing the scale and sanitary conditions of insect rearing; financing 120 rearing facilities; establishing an insect management system that matches insect supplies,

particularly silkworm, with demand; preventing the distribution of defective insects; establishing standards for production; strengthening forecasting, diagnoses, and disease control; and exploring a new industrialization model to add value to insect products. • Industrial infrastructure. Expanding the insect sector’s industrial infrastructure through R&D investments. This included utilizing industrial technologies, reforming legal and institutional bodies to reduce inefficiencies and advance industrial growth, training a professional workforce, and developing market convergence. • Implementation system. Assigning specific implementation roles and responsibilities for MAFRA, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Korean

Forest Service, local governments, farming families, food producers, the feed industry, distributors, and consumers. • Monitoring systems. Establishing monitoring action plans for RDA, the

Korean Forest Service, and local governments and carrying out an annual performance assessment of MAFRA and the comprehensive plan.

Role of the Private Sector

Across the world, the private sector plays an important role in the edible insect industry. Large-scale companies that farm BSF are located in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Most of these companies are rapidly increasing their production volumes, facility sizes, overall investments, and number of employees. Table 3.7 describes some of the large-scale insect farming companies currently operating around the world. Over the past five years, the research team observed more companies operating in the insect farming industry in Africa. Through insect farming, these companies also address societal challenges, such as unemployment, poor sanitation, and gender inequality. For example, one operation, Agriprotein in South Africa, employs more than 150 people in one of Cape Town’s most violent and disadvantaged communities, bringing employment and development to the area (Halloran 2018). The following subsection describes examples of successful companies engaged in insect farming in Africa.

Examples of Insect Farming Companies

FasoPro is a social enterprise located in Burkina Faso. The main products it sells are 75 and 150 gram packages of shea caterpillars and 40 gram packages of savory crackers made with shea caterpillar flour. Shea caterpillars are supplied by a network of collectors identified and trained by FasoPro in western Burkina Faso. The company has trained 500 women and collects 15 tons of shea caterpillars each year. As of the first quarter of 2020, the collectors had generated total profits of US$17,000. The shea caterpillars are dried and then transported to Ouagadougou where they are stored. Then, a team ensures the transformation and packaging of the products. Last, a team ensures delivery