August 2017

Pomalegni et al. (2017) present the results of a survey in Benin on the utilisation of fly larvae by poultry farmers. It shows that nearly 6% of the farmers feed their poultry with fly larvae at least occasionally. Fly larvae are produced by exposing various wastes as substrates to attract naturally occurring flies. A total of 28 substrates used to produce larvae were cited by farmers. The most cited substrates were soy and maize bran and pig and chicken manure. Factors influencing the use of fly larvae as poultry feed are analysed. In a previous paper, Pomalegni et al (2016) had shown that, in Benin, 86% of the farmers that do not yet use fly larvae are ready to do it.

Koné et al. (2017) analysed data from a previous project in Mali on a house fly production system based on substrate exposure for natural oviposition. It showed that 1 kg of dry chicken manure provides on average 124 g of fresh larvae but important seasonal variations occur, and yields over 400 g per kg of manure were obtained in the rainy season. The addition of blood or fish offal increases yields and can also poor substrates such as sheep manure. Recommendations for the setting up and optimisation of a house fly larvae production system in West Africa are suggested. An illustrated description of the system is also provided as supplementary material.

Other publications and technical guidelines are found in our Project outputs.