At 28-29 February 2024 the Insects for the Green Economy was held in Nairobi. Theme was: Sustainable Food Systems and Livelihoods in Africa. The conference was hosted by the African Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD) at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). 150 participants around the world participated in the conference – all people with scientific or business passion for insects. Attention was paid for insects for food (crickets, mealworms) and insects for feed applications (mostly Black Soldier Flies). Special guests were Prof Yupa from Thailand and Prof Nanna Roos from Copenhagen.

Flying Food was present as well. Mathilde Miedema of TNO, Marian Peters of NGN and Charles Odira of MIXA had a booth to exhibit our cricket products and Flying Food achievements.

Marian gave a key note speech how to organize the new insect sector.

In a panel discussion moderated by Dorte Verner  of the World Bank we discussed the business outlook of the edible insect industry. Mathilde contributed with our experiences of the Flying Food Partnership. As all frontrunners in this innovative sector we concluded that these six-legged protein bombs are the future. And that there is momentum to scale up the business: market is available, farming technologies are known, consumers urgency need nutritious food and insects have low foot print.

What must be the next step to scale the promising business? Our vision is two-fold; 1. improve supply by starting up medium scale (demo) cricket farms including marketing and demonstrating commercial viability of cricket powder in porridge and bread; 2. to start a sector approach in each country, with open discussions about next steps with all stakeholders, resulting in a roadmap to professionalize, supporting policies and collaborative business model.

TNO developed a scaling strategy for the cricket business in sub-Sahara Africa. Curious? Contact Mathilde.Miedema@tno.nl  and join this fascinating journey!