Project
Rol van insecten in nieuwe productiecycli
The FAO estimated that feeding a world population of 9.1 billion people in 2050 would require raising overall food production by 70 percent between 2005 and 2050. Meeting this increased demand for food is challenging and requires fundamental changes in our food production and consumption.
Circularity and climate-neutrality
Effectively achieving such fundamental changes requires an economy, based on the principle of circularity and climate-neutrality. To contribute towards the circular economy, the highly efficient use of insects in the food chain needs to be further developed to ensure more sustainable, resilient supply chains, featuring high consumer acceptability and attractive market opportunities.
Edible insects
Edible insects can contribute to circularity of the food chain since insects are able to convert low-grade resources into valuable ingredients for food, feed and the biobased economy. Moreover, insect farming can also significantly contribute to climate-neutrality as insect farming has environmental advantages compared to livestock production such as: less land and water are required, greenhouse gas emissions are lower and insects are highly efficient in converting by-products and waste into high-quality protein. However, commercial insect production is only in its infant stage, and needs to be improved at different stages of the insect production chain before scaling up can be achieved.