Insect agriculture is a potential solution to three challenges facing the broiler chicken industry: pressure to move away from traditional to ‘sustainable’ protein sources in broiler feed, demands for higher animal welfare from interest groups, and how to combat the ongoing concerns caused by land application of poultry manure.
Insect agriculture has in recent years risen from relative obscurity to become a widely discussed potential solution to the global protein challenge, attracting keen interest across agriculture and waste processing industries. It is a potential solution to three challenges facing the broiler chicken industry: pressure to move away from traditional to ‘sustainable’ protein sources in broiler feed, demands for higher animal welfare from interest groups, and how to combat the ongoing concerns caused by land application of poultry manure.
However, it is yet unclear whether insect protein is an actual solution to these problems, or, a case of the emperor’s new clothes, attracting significant funding but unable to survive as a standalone industry.
The aim of the study was to understand the challenges facing insect agriculture and to see if the benefits it may offer can be captured by the broiler industry. This involved looking into both smaller, on-farm production systems and larger, industrial level insect agriculture. Due to the specific regulations facing the UK, it was chosen to investigate what is being done at home, in Europe with rules that are likely to be in line with those the UK will adopt and in Africa where regulation far more relaxed.