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Feeding Insects to Farmed Animals

October 16th was World Food Day 2015. One aim of this campaign that started in 1945 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is to draw attention to achievements in food and agricultural development. Researchers from Europe and West Africa are now investigating whether feeding insects to farmed animals and fish in aquacultures is a safe and sustainable alternative to their current diet.

When on October 16th, World Food Day was celebrated, people around the globe came together to declare their commitment to eradicate hunger in our lifetime. But as one third of cultivated land is currently used to produce animal feed globally, one solution could be to find a new source of protein for animal feed. Now, researchers in Mali, West Africa are investigating the rearing of insects in order to feed them to chicken and fish. They have been looking at the best techniques to produce insect larvae efficiently and economically. For this, nutrition experts from the European research project PROteINSECT are working together with the African group, to understand how this protein-rich feed could also be used by farmers in Europe. They are particularly interested in checking out whether there are any potential health issues. Are these insects good for the animals? And will they be fit for human consumption? The research on these questions is on-going particularly now that the European Food Safety Authority EFSA has been looking at this in detail. Just last week they issued a comprehensive scientific report assessing the potential risks and opportunities associated with feeding insects to farmed animals. Watch video: http://www.youris.com/Bioeconomy/BIOECONOMY-TV/Feeding-Insects-To-Farmed-Animals.kl by Ute de Groot youris.com provides its content to all media free of charge. We would appreciate if you could acknowledge youris.com as the source of the content.

Keywords

feeds, food, insects, farming, aquaculture

Countries

Mali