BugBytes Vol. 3, Issue 3

As fertilizer prices shot up following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ugandan villager Peter Wakisi fretted about the future of his small farm and his young family.

Wakisi, 36, is one of over 1,200 villagers enrolled in a program to grow and sell the larvae of the black soldier fly, or BSF, a tiny creature whose powerful stomach enzymes turn food waste into fertilizer.

The food digested and excreted by the larvae is used to nourish plants.
 

The benefits are plain to see, father-of-four Wakisi said, pointing to a row of black plastic containers—home to the young larvae he buys and raises before selling back to the scientists for a threefold profit.

"The manure from the waste generated by the BSF, mixed with organic waste and pig droppings, is safe to the soil and much cheaper compared to inorganic fertilizers whose prices increased due to the war between Russia and Ukraine," Wakisi said.

"Organic fertilizers have reduced the expenses I used to incur on chemical fertilizers by almost 60 percent. My plants are healthier and yields are better now," he told AFP in his village of Kawoomya Nyiize in central Uganda's Kayunga district.

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