Opportunities, challenges and solutions for black soldier fly larvae-based animal feed production

Abstract

Increasing global demand for animal protein combined with an urgent need to advance towards global sustainability, as enshrined within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has spurred the development of insects as a protein source in animal and fish feed. The acceptance and feasibility of these advances are nevertheless poorly understood. This study aimed to identify opportunities, challenges and solutions for black soldier fly larvae-based animal feed production, through stakeholder interviews in Malaysia, analysed using thematic analysis and the analytic hierarchy process. The data identified 17 challenges, alongside 19 potential solutions, which we analysed under political, economic and resourcing, institutional and legal, and social and cultural categories. The need to establish a black soldier fly larvae-based feed sector has become important, but for black soldier fly larvae feed to make a substantive contribution to the animal feed sector, a more enabling environment is required. This includes improved support from the government, ensuring cost-effective investment and low operational costs, better coordination between regulatory authorities and improved consumer acceptance. Tackling these challenges from multiple entry points within each of the categories we identified could help to advance policies that advance progress towards the SDGs through the development of black soldier fly larvae-based animal feed production, supported by the engagement of multiple stakeholders. Policy recommendations emerging from this study offer important inputs to inform black soldier fly larvae-based animal feed production both in Malaysia and globally.