Insect Farming’s Social Benefits

of feeding insects to poultry concluded that partially substituting conventional protein sources with insect species, except grasshoppers, did not diminish the poultry’s growth (Moula and Detilleux 2019).

Insect feeds can have antibacterial effects on pig production. In pig feed, BSFL meal can functionally replace other protein sources. Moreover, BSFL can have additional antibacterial benefits for piglets that experience intestinal instability during their weaning period, when solid foods are introduced in their diet. More specifically, the chitin in the BSFL exoskeleton protects the weaning piglets against diarrhea (Ji et al. 2016). BSFL were also found to improve the growth performance of finishing pigs, or fully grown pigs that are being fattened for market (Yu et al. 2019).

INSECT FARMING’S SOCIAL BENEFITS

Insect farming is not associated with any particular gender, but it could provide benefits to women. Historically, wild insect collection in Africa has been a female occupation. A study in Kenya showed that most cricket farmers in Kenya were women (Halloran 2017). In Thailand, in an unrepresentative sample, about half of the cricket farmers who were interviewed for this report were women (Halloran, Roos, and Hanboonsong 2017). That said, anecdotal and observational evidence that was gathered for this report shows that BSF farming is a male-dominated field. The farm-level survey shows that only 28 percent of the surveyed insect farmers were female. The country-level data show that men are overrepresented in BSF and palm weevil farming—86 percent of BSF farmers and 90 percent of palm weevil farmers are male. Despite the lower number of female insect farmers, insect farming still provides an opportunity to empower rural women by increasing their access to livelihoods and agricultural resources. In interviews for this report in Thailand, there was general agreement that cricket farming could help women achieve greater financial independence. However, there is still only limited information available on the relationship between gender and insect farming.

Insect farming benefits people of all ages and income levels. A Kenyan farmer said, “A benefit of insect farming is that it’s a source of employment and income for both young and old.” The farm-level survey shows that all age groups, including youth, perform insect farming. One percent of insect farmers are between ages 10 and 19 years, 11 percent between 20 and 29, 24 percent between 30 and 39, 20 percent between 40 and 49, 22 percent between 50 and 59, 16 percent between 60 and 69, and 6 percent older than 70. The 40-to-49 age group comprised the most female farmers. Moreover, insect farming attracts people from different economic backgrounds. The countrylevel survey indicates that 33 percent of the surveyed farmers were identified by the surveyor as “poor,” 47 percent were identified as “lower-middle class,” 17 percent were identified as “upper-middle class,” and 3 percent were identified as “wealthy.”