Insect and Hydroponic Farming in Africa : The New Circular Food Economy

We did it! Congrats to my fellow co-authors for producing this World Bank book on the new circular food economy. This book presents a heavily disruptive, inclusive, and resilient solution to Africa’s wide-ranging food security challenges. Specifically, it assesses the benefits and costs of using the frontier agriculture technologies to create a circular food economy …

Speaking at the Change the World 2020 Conference

How do we navigate the future of food? Rather than speaking about one specific technology or idea, I want to show that we have so many different potential entry points and solutions to choose from. Change the World is the How To Academy's flagship conference that brings together the inspirational individuals and organisations forging a …

What determines farmers’ awareness and interest in adopting cricket farming?

Farming crickets for human consumption is emerging as a promising novel and sustainable animal-source food production system. Cricket farming in Kenya first began in 2013. Adoption rates, however, have been slower than expected. In our recent paper, me and some of my colleagues from the former GREEiNSECT project present a pilot study of farmers’ awareness …

The Rise of the ‘Google’ Farmer

Last week, I attended and spoke at the 1st African Conference on Edible Insects in Harare, Zimbabwe. During one of the tea breaks, I got chatting with an enthusiastic female farmer: "So, how did you learn about black soldier fly farming?" I asked. "I'm a 'Google' farmer," she procalimed with a toothy grin. Despite never …

We’ve surpassed the 30,000 individual downloads mark!

Never shy away from setting ambitious goals! I just received this lovely email from a Senior Editor at Springer Nature Publishing: "I wanted to touch base to send congratulations since your book, Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems, just passed the 30,000 individual downloads mark. This is a major accomplishment since the average Springer book …

What’s the social impact of a fly?

“Most people put profit at the centre, but I think that we need to put the why – why are we doing this? – at the centre.” – Co-founder and CEO of AgriProtein, Jason Drew In December 2017, I travelled to South Africa to conduct a preliminary study on the social impact of Agriprotein and …

Autumn/Winter 2018 – Speaking engagements

A new season is upon us! I am looking forward to engaging in all sorts of fascinating events over the next four months. Here is a list of where I will be speaking and facilitating: September 19 - Roskilde, Denmark Nordic Meeting on Insects as Food and Feed Speaking on behalf of the Nordic Council …

New Assignment: Future Foods Expert for the Asian Productivity Organization

I am pleased to announce that I have just taken on a new assignment as a Future Foods Expert/Resource Person for the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) online course, Future Food: Exploring Business Opportunities. The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) was established on 11 May 1961 as a regional intergovernmental organization. APO membership is open to countries …

From vegetable vending machines to edible insects: searching for sustainable food in China

I have just returned from a two week trip to China where I shared my time between scouting new food trends in Shanghai, presenting at the 2nd International Conference on Insects to Feed the World and promoting the Solutions Menu: A Nordic Guide to Sustainable Food Policy to representatives from the Nordic Consulates. Food trends in …

Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems – Publication date: May 18th

Two years ago we planted the seed for Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems and now the book is set to be published on May 18th... just in time for the Second Annual Insects to Feed the World Conference in Wuhan, China! The book is built around eight different sections on themes such as gastronomy, culture, …