One-third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted, resulting in an estimated $1 trillion in economic losses per year and 37 percent of its total in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite increased efforts to increase food production, Africa has few innovative solutions to reduce food waste.

Agricultural waste offers limitless opportunities for converting “waste” into useful products that can drive innovation and create long-term jobs.

This is the story of three young Agri-entrepreneurs who are improving farmers’ animal nutrition in Africa. Earlier this year, Elias Munezero of Burundi, along with colleagues Caleb Adewale and Neema John, devised a plan to produce an alternative to the market’s current high-priced protein sources for animal feeds using agricultural waste. They founded the Goshen Maggot Farm with a focus on protein maggot production from black soldier fly larvae to enable farmers to purchase animal protein feed at a reasonable cost.

Maggots are a protein source for feeds that accelerate the growth of poultry, fish, and pigs using organic waste as a medium. In livestock feed formulation, maggots have the highest amount of crude protein of any animal or plant protein source. They are nutritious and less expensive than other animal protein feed sources. Munezero and his colleagues collect food leftovers from restaurants and mangoes that fall under trees to use in the manufacturing process. To ensure continuity, they hired a resident student at Gulu University to oversee the project, so now that they are finalists, they have decided to discontinue the project in Gulu and instead implement it in their respective home countries of Burundi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda.

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