Human feaces producing organic insect feed

Egg business has become very lucrative for Kenyan farmer Victor Kyalo all thanks to human feaces. The farmer says his egg production double after feeding his chicken with organic recycled food.

The chicken feed from Sanergy harvests waste is fly larvae that has been fed with human feaces collected from slums across Nairobi. Then mixed with other ingredients to create a balanced diet for poultry, pigs and fish.

“So basically this process is able to reduce the amount of waste coming in by 70 percent within ten days. So if you have 100 tons coming into the process, after feeding them to black soldier flies, it will be 30 tons within ten days. I think that’s a very very powerful way of helping solve the waste reduction problem,” explained Michael Lowelo, managing director, Sanergy explaining how fas the larvae consume the human excretion.

By harvesting human feaces, the company is providing the urban slums where two thirds of Nairobi residents live, with a solution to sanitation and nutrition problems. Sanergy has opened franchise toilets in the slums providing much needed toilets in the area.

“These latrines have helped the community a lot because before people used the flying toilets, and toilets were scarce. Now Fresh Life have installed these latrines and its much cleaner, they are evenly distributed and one can access a toilet anytime anywhere not like before,“said Lillian Mbusia, Sanergy toilet franchise owner.

Insects have become an alternative main ingredient to traditional feed instead of soya bean which causes deforestation, less green house emissions and water usage thus fighting climate change.

Big companies such as McDonald’s are turning to insect feed for chicken, which is expected to grow to a 1.2 billion USD industry by 2023.