Phase 1: Establishing and Piloting

The surveys also show that high start-up costs and limited access to inputs— such as eggs, substrates, or hardware—can set back production. For example, in Madagascar, farmers who were interviewed said they had to travel more than 50 kilometers to buy insect eggs. In Kenya, the research team observed that many of these input and scaling constraints were removed when farmers had greater access to finance. 7. There is still some cultural aversion toward consuming insects, although this seems to be more of an issue in Europe and North America than in

Africa. The survey results show that most of the interviewed farmers in

Africa were comfortable with the idea of eating insects or feeding them to livestock. In Zimbabwe, 90 percent of people eat insects on a regular basis (Dube et al. 2013).

PHASE 1: ESTABLISHING AND PILOTING

To establish frontier agricultural technologies—specifically, insect farming and crop hydroponics—requires several key actions. These include, but are not limited to, (1) forming producer groups; (2) building technical capacity among producers; (3) providing access to finance; (4) forming entomophagy and hydroponic associations; (5) raising public awareness of the social, economic, and environmental benefits of frontier agriculture; (6) strengthening regulatory frameworks; (7) monitoring and evaluating; and (8) piloting programs to increase the functionality, accessibility, and affordability of frontier agricultural production. These actions are described in the following subsections.

Forming Community-Level Producer Groups

National associations can assist small-scale producers in forming communitylevel producer groups. These groups could register as legal entities that supply frontier agricultural products to local communities and regional markets. The producer groups could provide several services to local producers, including trainings, information sharing, and group savings programs. Most important, the producer groups can advocate for the needs of small-scale producers to the national association and eventually to the government on policy.

Building Technical Capacity on Frontier Agricultural Technologies among Producers

Currently, insect farming and plant hydroponics are not well known or widely practiced in Africa. As a result, local and international stakeholders must disseminate information through collaboration, information sharing, and extension services. As this report has shown, many African farmers are already farming insects or have expressed an interest and willingness to try—but still lack the knowledge to expand or get started. Technical knowledge training would fill that gap. Instruction would include how to set up the

frontier technology’s infrastructure, how to tend the system, how to process and add value to products, how to market and sell products in the market, and how to carry out these practices safely, hygienically, and sustainably. Many universities in Africa—from Accra to Nairobi and from Bujumbura to Chinhoyi—already have capacity in these areas. This outreach training would likely also inform farmers of relevant policies and regulations. To accomplish this, the technical knowledge must fall within a framework of long-term partnerships and training transfers with research and technical institutions. These partnerships would eventually play a key role in piloting insect and hydroponic farms.

Providing Farmers Access to Finance

Beyond technical knowledge, rural farmers will likely need financing to start operations, even for the simplest systems, which all require tools and input materials. Initially, farmers may require grants or low-interest loans, but eventually, once frontier agriculture shows returns, risk guarantees can be used. With the support of financial institutions and international donors, governments can embed financial systems in existing rural, social, agricultural, and private sector development programs.

Forming National Entomophagy and Hydroponic Associations

The first step to developing a country’s frontier agricultural technologies is bringing together existing stakeholders. These stakeholders should include representation from the government, the private sector, and civil society. National entomophagy and hydroponic associations would organize stakeholders around the general mandate of mainstreaming frontier agricultural technologies in a given country. This would be an important first step in African FCVaffected countries where there is a lack of guidance and limited regulatory frameworks for selling and consuming frontier agricultural products, especially farmed insect products. The associations could develop ethics and food safety guidelines for each industry, respond to emerging issues, and generally lay the foundation for mainstreaming frontier agricultural technologies in a circular food economy. The associations would provide producers access to information on best practices for hydroponics, rearing and processing farmed insects, sustainably managing resources, utilizing new technologies and equipment, sourcing and pricing inputs, acquiring pertinent market data on local and regional demand, and developing online marketplaces for suppliers and producers. The associations would provide a forum for stakeholders to coordinate production, processing, and sales to improve supply chain efficiency and competitiveness. The associations would also provide advocacy services to promote certain sector strategies and national laws and regulations. This advocacy would be strengthened through awareness-raising campaigns and market links with wholesale and retail supply chains.

Implementing a Communications Strategy to Raise Public Awareness on the Social, Economic, Climatic, and Environmental Benefits of Frontier Agriculture

The stakeholder associations should lead awareness-raising efforts in African countries to inform the public on the benefits of circular economy and the insect farming and plant hydroponics sectors. Such awareness raising is crucial for farming insects for human food or animal feed since there still may be some cultural aversion or common misperception that insects are unfit for human consumption. The associations would work with governments, civil society organizations, and international donors to raise awareness and challenge these biases. These efforts should leverage forward-looking and progressive approaches to awareness raising, such as Social and Behavior Change Communication Theory or others. History demonstrates that it is possible to change people’s opinions about foods that were once considered undesirable. For example, in the United States, at one time, people in Maine, long known for its lobster industry, did not consume much of the lobster themselves, but when the railway came they managed to export it to other states. It was only during the 1880s that lobster shed some of its negative reputation as upscale diners in Boston and New York began to pay large sums for it (History.com 2018). A similar dynamic could happen with farmed insects. Cultural influencers, such as chefs, could help raise the status of insects as a food that is suitable and even desirable for humans. Some chefs are already doing this, for example at Restaurant Noma in Denmark, Yoosung Hotel in Korea, and the Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe. The survey results show that Africans are less likely than people from Western countries to hold negative perceptions of insect consumption.

Strengthening the Regulatory Frameworks for Relevant Industries

Frontier agricultural technologies may require government regulations for the industries’ markets, production, food safety, and environmental protection. As of 2021, such regulations do not exist in Africa or are limited in what agricultural products they cover. As such, there are very few models to follow. For example, the European Union only recently implemented novel food legislation covering insect food products. Regulatory frameworks also govern the many stakeholders involved in frontier agriculture. This includes members of national associations and producer groups, but also consumers, investors, wholesalers and retailers, feed producers, food producers, research institutions, entrepreneurs, policy makers, government agencies, individual farmers, food service workers, civil society organizations, and the international community, among others. Figure 6.2 shows what a potential institutional and regulatory framework might look like for the farmed insect food and feed industry. With the broad mandate to regulate frontier agriculture, the framework should also ensure policy coherence; establish an incentive structure to grow insect