Prospects of Utilizing Insects as Alternative Sources of Protein in Poultry Diets in Botswana: a Review

Feed costs account for nearly 70 to 80% of the total production costs as nearly all ingredients used in feed manufacturing in Botswana are imported. Therefore, complete feeds are expensive and out of reach of smallholder poultry farmers who lack economies of scale and access to credit. This makes the prospects of utilising insects as a source of protein feasible because they are available throughout the year. Insects have played an important role in human nutrition as a source of protein since time immemorial. Of all insects, only phane (Imbrasia belina) has been used as source of protein in poultry diets in Botswana. This work has shown that the nutrient composition of phane, grasshoppers, crickets and fly maggots compare favourably with major conventional protein sources such as fish meal, indicating that insect meals can partially or completely replace fish meal in poultry diets.The inclusion of insect meals in poultry diets is likely to lower the cost of feeds, thus contributing to the profitability of smallholder poultry production.Harvesting insects for use as feed ingredients will reduce damage in the crop fields, minimize the use of pesticides for management of pests and reduce environmental pollution. However, in utilizing insects as sources of proteins in poultry diets, the seasonality aspect, as well as, the presence of chitin which detrimentally affects protein digestibility must be considered. Further investigations on the nutritional composition of insects used for human consumption should be conducted with a view to utilizing them in livestock nutrition as well.