Put some food waste in a bucket outside your house and witness the congregation of insects descending onto it.

Most of us find this picture repulsive.

But what if these same insects help us convert this trash into symbolic ‘gold’?

Let’s dig deeper shall we…

Remember the repulsive image we conjured a few sentences above?

In hot, hum conditions, the waste will ferment and stink.

And in turn, the stink will attract flies some of which have been proven to be more beneficial than we could imagine.

BLACK SOLDIER FLY

This is a unique insect that feasts on rotting trash…

Yeah yeah I know what you’re thinking.

But it’s true.

The rotting fruit waste, vegetable scraps etc.

But black soldier flies not only feast on trash.

They breed voraciously in it as well.

The smell of rotting trash attracts them to it leading them to convert it into their home.

Sooner rather than later, they lay their eggs and … voila … bugs appear in the process.

These bugs are called Black Soldier Fly Larvae.

Now, these are not your ordinary maggots we love to hate.

They are special ones that have accumulated high levels of proteins and minerals right from the trash.

When they reach just the right size, they could be harvested, dried and used to formulate chicken feeds – yes chicken feeds.

Black solider fly larvae (BSFL) are growing in prominence as a method of managing solid waste while at the same time providing an alternative form of chicken feeds.

But that’s not all.

FRASS

What’s frass?

Well as the bugs feast on their stinky delicacies – no pun intended – of course they generate droppings.

Being rich in nutrients, these droppings could be collected and applied to farms and gardens as organic fertilizers.

But this frass business isn’t far from over when considering another critter.

CRICKETS

They avail to us the romantic high pitched soundsn in the clear night blanketed by the moonlight.

But crickets are more than just insects that surround us with familiar noise.

They are known to accumulate a very high level of protein in their bodies only rivaled by fish – a staggering 60%+.

Let’s put this into context.

Cows convert around 30% of their feeds to proteins.

So what this means is that helping ourselves to a few fried crickets might just give us an ample protein boost – naah I’m just kidding…

But in real sense I’m not.

Crickets are becoming more and more popular with farmers.

They are easy to rear…

They need fewer inputs…

The start up capital is minimal…

They are modest feeders – not like grade chicken…

And above all, they can deliver to us a nutritional value like no other.

Crickets could in the near future become the ace insects…

Many of us might frown upon eating insects but I can assure you that this won’t be for long because crickets are bound to change that.

But if not, then they could still form a huge part of chicken diet.

And if we continue eating chicken, then we must rear crickets because they’ll need them for sustenance.

Beyond the advantages listed above, crickets are fast breeders – with hatching of eggs taking place barely two weeks after starting them off.

Remember all one needs are empty paper egg cartons – or cardboards – a bucket, some moist cotton wool, water and food – which might consist of chicken refuse.

And within no time, a hoard of critters will be swarming around you ready to be converted into value. 

MY POINT IS…

Insects are crucial to our environment.

They not only eat the scraps – thereby acting as sanitation workers around us…

But they also convert it into useful products – either as accumulated proteins or fertilizers.

Now I’m sure this doesn’t just apply to crickets and BSFL.

Probably sooner or later, we might find more uses of the many insects around us in the same way our forefathers relied on them for pollination, pest control etc.

Insects make our world better only is we choose to see them with a different eye.

Probably they may help reduce our craps (trash) as they fertilize our cabbage and feed our chicken.