Harvesting flies for animal feed wins innovation prize
A South African company has won the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) for developing a method of creating livestock feed from maggots.
AgriProtein Technologies beat ten other finalists from across the country and was awarded US$100,000.
Jason Drew, cofounder of the company, explained the process “ After allowing flies to lay eggs in the bio-waste, the resultant larvae, or maggots, are harvested and dried before being mixed with carbohydrates and starch to create food for chickens, crayfish, abalone and pigs.”
Drew said his company is already at a commercial production stage in order to provide farmers with affordable animal feed protein and the prize money would enable to expand to the rest of Africa.
“We are honoured by this remarkable recognition. We are passionate about expanding our business to recycle more waste nutrients and supply a natural protein to feed farm animals… helping sustainably feed our continent…this is an African contribution to sustainable agriculture for our planet,” he said.
The IPA was founded by the African Innovation Foundation (AIF) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, focusing on building Africa’s capacity by investing in local entrepreneurship.
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