Workshop Report: : Feed future - how to ensure accessibility and affordability of sustainable feed to the small-scale farmers?

Samenvatting

Currently thousands of small-scale farmers depend on commercial highly processed feed for their fish and livestock. Common protein sources in commercial feed, soybean and fish meal, have shown to not be sustainable with high climate impacts. Recent research conducted with small holder fish farms in Kenya has demonstrated that replacing commercial feed and substituting fish meal in diets with locally available protein sources like Spirulina (Spirulina platensis), dried Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) (Hermetia illucens) and dried freshwater shrimp (Caridina nilotica) result in equally high growth of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings as commercial fish meal-based feed. This provides opportunities to replace highly priced commercial feed with high quality localprotein sources, and thus enhance sustainability and reduce the climate footprint drastically.