PhD Scholarship for study in Feeds for Resilient Aquatic Food Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (FASA) project

Project summary

Aquaculture has been a vital part of the global food production that has now evolved into an economically and environmentally sustainable industry that produces a wide variety of products. This has led to an increase in the production of fish species native to Africa used in aquaculture, that are fed a variety of feed including insect-based feed. The ingredients used in the formulation of fish diets can have a significant impact on the aquaculture industry and as a result, continuous improvement in this industry is critical. The increasing demand of fishmeal and soybean in livestock and aquaculture feed production has led to a global concern for the need to search for alternative sustainable protein sources. Insects are an efficient and environmentally friendly way to produce these required proteins, as they have a wide range of benefits for the production of feed, such as reduced environmental impact, increased production efficiency, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) (BSF) is a wide-spread reared insect that has been widely adopted for organic waste management and as an alternate source of protein for feed production. BSF can digest and convert organic waste substrates into biomass which is composed of protein, fat and chitin. Use of BSF as a partial replacement of fishmeal has been studied in several fish species including Siberian Sturgeon, Atlantic salmon, and Rainbow trout among others. The PhD project will evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of BSF larvae as a replacement for fishmeal, on growth performance, gut health and water safety in an aquaculture setup in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia.