Farmers’ Perceptions and Preferences for Commercial Insect-based Feed in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

Feed accounts for at least 70 percent of chicken production costs due to the expensive protein ingredients of soybean and fishmeal (SFM) that are key in commercial feed formulation. Expensive feed has seen chicken farmers scale down production or abandon the enterprise despite the current high and projected increased demand for chicken products of 121 percent by the year 2050. Insect protein from the black soldier fly (BSF) larvae has been identified as the best alternative source of protein that will reduce production costs by at least 17 percent. Previous studies have focused on the nutritional profile of the BSF and consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the end-products of chicken reared on insect-based feed (IBF). Little is known on farmers’ perceptions and WTP for IBF in chicken production in Kenya. To address this gap, this study examined farmers’ perceptions of commercial IBF and their WTP for commercial IBF attributes. Cross-sectional data was collected through a series of multi-stage sampling from 314 predominantly chicken farmers in Kiambu County, Kenya. To assess farmers’ perceptions of commercial IBF, the study employed the principal component analysis (PCA) to develop perception indices that were subsequently used in multiple regression analyses. The choice experiment (CE) valuation method and the random parameter logit (RPL) empirical model were used to evaluate famers’ WTP for commercial IBF attributes. The results show that over 90 percent of the farmers were ready and willing to use IBF. The PCA identified feed performance, social acceptability of the use of insects in feed formulation, feed versatility and marketability of products reared on IBF as the key attributes that would inform farmers’ purchase decisions. Awareness of IBF benefits, group membership, off-farm income, wealth status and education significantly influenced farmers’ perceptions of IBF. Results from the RPL revealed that farmers were willing to pay premium prices between Ksh 35 and Ksh 345 for IBF in the form of either pellets or mash, x feed explicitly labelled as containing insects, feed mixed with SFM and dark-colored feed. Further analysis generated the compensating surplus whereby policy scenarios that consider farmers’ profits, environmental sustainability and chicken welfare aspects are preferred. The findings established here underscore the importance of conducting ex-ante behavioral analysis for innovations prior to their commercial release for successful uptake. Hence, interventions such as experimental demonstrations that increase farmers’ technical knowledge on the productivity of chicken fed on IBF are crucial to reducing farmers’ uncertainties towards acceptability of IBF. Partnerships with resource-endowed farmers and farmer groups are recommended to provide wider sensitization to improve knowledge sharing on IBF. Collaborations to open communication platforms between local artisans and feed regulators and millers to facilitate the use of local machinery for feed pelleting and efficient grounding of fatty IBF are suggested, among strategies of developing certified logos for ease of IBF identification and researching on the appropriate proportions of insect and SFM protein for optimal chicken performance. The study provides empirical evidence for the harmonization of the infant regulatory framework by the Kenya Bureau of Standards to guide the standardization process of use of insects in commercial feed. The national government could implement a nation-wide value chain mapping exercise for the poultry sub-sector to update the contribution of poultry to the economy and to also identify opportunities and challenges faced by other poultry breeds like the indigenous chicken