Fly larvae: Costa Rica's sustainable protein for animal feed
Raised in vertical farms and stuffed with fruit waste, fly larvae have been turned into animal feed, as a new Costa Rican venture in sustainability is demonstrating.
The Central American nation, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, has put a lot of energy and creativity into the goal of becoming the greenest, most sustainable country in Latin America.
In Guapiles, a farming town just 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the capital San Jose, an innovative company has turned the tables on the flies that have always buzzed annoyingly around the crops—putting them to work.
The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) is native to tropical climates such as Costa Rica's, with its larvae incessantly gobbling up organic waste.
"It's a high-quality protein," Miguel Carmona, president of the company ProNuvo, told AFP.
So fly larvae can provide "healthier" proteins for animals and with less environmental impact than feed based on animal (beef or fish) or vegetable (soy) protein, the 52-year-old businessman explained.
The company's final products, in the form of dried larvae, protein powder or insect oil, are exported—for now only to the United States, although one Costa Rican fishery is already using them in its tilapia farm in the north of the country.
'Sustainable business'
A worker collects black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae at the production plant in Guapiles, Costa Rica.