![\"Women](\"https:\/\/www.naistenpankki.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1664276388459-scaled.jpg\")
Women observe a demonstration of how black soldier fly larvae can be bred for animal feed in Nepal<\/p><\/div>\n
With funding from our sister organisation, Women\u2019s Bank, and in partnership with the Federation of Woman Entrepreneurs\u2019 Associations of Nepal (FWEAN), the project aims to provide employment to seven women, who are part of a farming cooperative in the village. All of them face social and economic marginalisation, with limited access to resources, job opportunities and influence within their community<\/p>\n
The premise is simple: Black Soldier Fly larvae are raised in a special production facility feeding on organic waste. They then are used as feed for farmed animals and fish. The frass (excretion of larvae\/fly) is used as organic fertilizers.<\/p>\n
\u2013 The organic waste from the household and farming land is reused again and again for the larvae, says FCA Climate and Environment Sustainability Advisor, Aly Cabrera<\/strong>. It\u2019s a really good initiative because it reduces land competition between food for human and for animal consumption.<\/p>\n A close-up of the larvae feeding on organic waste<\/p><\/div>\n FCA set up the production facility and provides ongoing training to the women in both the technical skills needed to raise the larvae and the business development skills that will enable them to connect with customers and larger industries. In time, they won\u2019t just be able to maintain their farms, but also sell surplus larvae and frass to others.<\/p>\n That said, it\u2019s a very new concept in Nepal and the benefits of using the larvae are not yet well understood by stakeholders in the agriculture, poultry and fisheries industries.<\/p>\n Other challenges include the delicate nature of the larvae themselves. The grubs are highly sensitive to temperature and humidity and getting the ambient conditions exactly right for them to thrive is crucial.<\/p>\n Despite this, the women in Bhardeu recently celebrated a milestone. The initial insects needed to establish a colony arrived from the western district of Chitwan and they were able to get to work after long months of training. The cooperative issued a statement in celebration:<\/p>\n \u2013 We are filled with hope that our dream of economic empowerment through engagement in the Black Soldier Fly business model will finally come true. We envision ourselves becoming successful entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n The BUZZ project is thanks to a joint FCA and Women\u2019s Bank initiative that develops circular economy projects to increase income opportunities & sustainable agricultural practices in order to improve community resilience.<\/p>\n Text: Deepika Naidu<\/p>\n Main picture: \u200bFCA and Womens\u2019 Bank BUZZ project in Nepal uses larvae from the Black Soldier Fly as alternative animal feed due to their high protein and fat content, as opposed to traditional feeds. This reduces solid waste by efficiently converting organic waste into animal feeds and organic fertilizer within the cycle of circular economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FCA and Womens\u2019 Bank BUZZ project in Nepal uses larvae from the Black Soldier Fly as alternative animal feed due to their high protein and fat content, as opposed to traditional feeds. This reduces solid waste by efficiently converting organic waste into animal feeds and organic fertilizer within the cycle of circular economy. In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001018,"featured_media":69713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1048],"class_list":["post-69709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yleinen-en","tag-nepal-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naistenpankki.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Flyes.jpg\")