Can a ‘magical’ insect help Madagascar battle malnutrition, deforestation?

On the roof of the Madagascar Biodiversity Center in the capital city of Antananarivo is a hut, nicknamed the “Love Shack.” Inside are mating black soldier flies. The larvae of these bugs are rich in protein and lipids, prompting researchers and the development sector in the country to see them as a potential solution to reduce malnutrition, ease pressure on forests, and improve access to affordable organic fertilizers. It’s a tall order for such a small creature. But these soldiers have a lot of good qualities. And while they aren’t a replacement for all livestock, they are much easier to farm on a small scale, and they convert low-value organic residues into biomass that can be used as fertilizer or high-quality protein for feeding farm animals. Where it’s culturally acceptable and the processes are safe, they can also be eaten by humans. Some families consume the larvae fried or in sauces, but most of it is used to feed poultry and fish, or to fortify soil. “It’s a magical insect” with “amazing properties,” said Tanjona Ramiadantsoa, scientific director at the Madagascar Biodiversity Center, or MBC. “It ticks almost all the boxes.” The MBC and development partners are working to train smallholder farmers on rearing these nutrient-dense larvae as well as building up the body of research around them. On a more industrial scale, black soldier flies, or BSF, larvae, and crickets can also be dried into a powder, which can fortify foods such as porridge and crackers. EXA Food & Feed, a Malagasy startup, is working in partnership with MBC to scale up this type of production, which can be used for school feeding programs, humanitarian aid, and in health clinics. Madagascar’s population has a long history of eating insects, consuming over 100 types of insects. In the 19th century, Queen Ranavalona II would send her servants to the countryside to collect locusts for her. But these culinary traditions have lost traction in urban areas, Ramiadantsoa said. MBC is working to bring the popularity of eating insects back by supporting social acceptance and safe preparation. The soldier’s mission Madagascar is one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots, with over 90% of the wildlife endemic to the island. However, this natural wealth is under threat. In a country that has the fifth-highest global chronic malnutrition rate, high levels of poverty, demand for food can threaten biodiversity — with traditional farming practices sometimes leading to land degradation, deforestation, and the hunting of wildlife. In a country burdened by high levels of poverty, demand for food can threaten biodiversity — with traditional farming practices sometimes leading to land degradation, deforestation, and the hunting of wildlife. Beyond protein and beneficial lipids, the BSF larvae contain essential amino acids and micronutrients. While the nutrient profiles vary based on diet and how they’re processed, when raised properly, BSF can deliver a broad nutrient range comparable to many animal proteins. And one of the critical differences is that poultry and livestock require purchased feed, such as grains — which many Malagasy smallholder farmers can’t afford — whereas the BSF consumes organic residues. This could include a household’s leftover maize or rice, fruits decomposing on the forest floor, and spent grain from beer brewing. Carbon emissions expended in the BSF farming per unit of protein are lower than animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats, and less water is needed, said Brian Fisher, founder of MBC. Additionally, farmers can build BSF micro farms with low-cost, local materials. The waste, or “frass,” from raising BSF can be used as an organic fertilizer. Recent research from MBC and EXA found that this composted frass can increase maize yields by about 38% compared to traditional cattle manure. “It's almost a nice, perfect circular economy,” Ramiadantsoa said. “It’s an amazing solution for Madagascar.” These bugs also have a short lifecycle — about 28 days to 35 days from egg to prepupa, if raised in a warm environment — a short lifecycle is helpful because it allows farmers to produce more larvae in less time. And if the food provided to the BSF is contaminated with pathogens, the bugs can reduce some of them, and they aren’t known to spread disease. The spread of disease can be a problem in livestock farming when species are crowded together. “I told you, it’s magical — almost,” Ramiadantsoa said. An inventory of edible insects Walking through the halls of the campus of the MBC, there are bugs around nearly every corner. Researchers are examining them under microscopes. While others are in jars or their corpses pinned to boards. Walls adorned with bug artwork, including portraits of the “bacon bug.” And the startling smell of ammonia emanates from the BSF farming. The center opened its edible insects lab in 2022. Their initial strategy was to create an inventory of the over 100 consumed edible insects in Madagascar, evaluating the merits of each in both small and large-scale farming. After three years of piloting other species, the researchers chose to focus on BSF — but with the intention of continuing research into other edible insects. Through their program that focuses on small farms, the center and its partners support local communities to build micro BSF farms with local materials. They’ve trained over 700 farmers across the country and supported over 230 operating BSF micro farms. A typical micro farm can produce up to 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of BSF larvae and 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of frass monthly, according to Fisher. On the research side, MBC and its collaborators are testing the nutritional impacts and gut microbiome outcomes of consuming BSF, including a study involving mice. They are also examining the climate resilience of micro-farm designs, food safety and processing, consumer acceptance of insect-fortified food, and low-cost designs of raising the larvae in ways suitable for rural Madagascar. The MBC campus also devotes a lot of space to farming crickets, which are then ground into powder. When you walk into some rooms, there’s a sensory overload of what sounds like an intense summer’s night — rows upon rows of chirping crickets. While fortifying food with crickets is a more common and traditional option for insect food fortification, the BSF does have many advantages over crickets. Crickets are more sensitive to temperature; they have a higher cannibalism rate; they have a longer life cycle, and they are fed with feed that must be purchased, Fisher said. Given these factors, the BSF is a more suitable candidate for micro-farming. And so, where it stands now, the BSF is favored for community-level circular farming in Madagascar, whereas crickets are used more frequently in human-food fortification when there’s the processing capacity and social acceptance, Fisher said. America’s exit Some of the work around scaling up the use of BSF and crickets was funded by the U.S. government and then subsequently impacted by the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts this year. The U.S. Agency for International Development previously funded a three-year $200,000 program that was evaluating cricket powder fortified porridge and crispbread for school children — but that program was listed on a spreadsheet of terminated programs the Trump administration distributed to Congress in March. Fisher said this was only a portion of the funding for this type of work and that their efforts continue with other sources of funding, such as from foundations, private donors, and small grants. He said that U.S. funding was significant for elements of research and development, training, and early procurement, and that the recent cuts have slowed the scale-up of this work, with fewer micro-farms created and a delay in purchases for fortified foods. Additionally, Catholic Relief Services was involved as a buyer and pilot implementor of fortified food products locally, both porridge and crackers, Fisher said. But with cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and USAID, MBC has instead shifted to partnerships with UNICEF and the World Food Programme. The details around how this will pan out are still ongoing. And there are other school feeding programs and health clinic-linked pilots involving local and international nongovernment organization partners, he added. Delicious, nutritious, and scalable Researchers are hoping that what’s demonstrated on BSF’s benefits in Madagascar can serve to support its scale-up in other contexts. These larvae can be farmed in countries around the world, but the temperatures in tropical and subtropical areas are ideal, Fisher said. Several African countries, such as Kenya, have projects for farming BSF for livestock and fish feed. When farmed in temperate regions, they would need to be in climate-controlled setups. On the culinary side, there’s also the issue of a population’s willingness to eat them. It’s not a cultural norm in many places. But there are other countries with insect culinary traditions. For example, the mopane worm is eaten across southern Africa. And so teams at the MBC are hoping these critters ultimately win over populations — helping to target critical problems such as environmental degradation and food security. “Everyone who has tried fried BSF, they’re like: ‘Oh, this is delicious,’” Ramiadantsoa said.