While some say they “wouldn’t hurt a fly”, others – in Kenya for example – put them to work! Meet the Black Soldier Fly (BSF), a tiny insect with a big mission. Its larvae are nature’s little recyclers, devouring organic waste and turning it into valuable byproducts supporting sustainable food and agricultural cycles.

Here’s how it works: BSF larvae feast on organic waste—think food scraps, market leftovers, and agricultural residues. As they grow, they produce frass, a natural fertilizer that boosts soil health, improves water retention, and increases crop yields. Meanwhile, the larvae themselves become a protein-rich feed for animals like chickens, pigs, or fish, reducing the need for expensive, unsustainable animal feed alternatives. By composting organic waste, BSF systems also cut greenhouse gas emissions from landfills and reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers, which harm the soil.

This clever idea with the BSF isn’t really ‘new, new’. Companies worldwide are already harnessing these larvae to tackle waste and produce high-quality animal feed. But the added potential of BSF farming relies on its simplicity and accessibility, as it requires minimal land, labor, and resources. It thus creates income generation opportunities especially suited for small-scale farmers and vulnerable communities, particularly for women and youth who often lack access to land and capital. These little insect soldiers can therefore be a key piece of socially and environmentally sustainable circular economy processes.

That seems to be the understanding as well of the young promoters of Mombasa’s Project Mila (meaning ‘culture’ in Swahili). This community-driven initiative collects organic waste from households, markets, and restaurants, feeding it to voracious BSF larvae. Cleaner streets and less waste in landfills, yes. But the project isn’t just about waste management, it aims to be a holistic solution addressing multiple challenges. Making frass accessible to small-scale Mombasa farmers, helps them diversify their crops away and boost their incomes by increasing their soil fertility while reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers. This, in turn, has an impact on nearby fishers,  who are seeing improved catches in healthier marine ecosystems, as the use of frass reduces the residues of synthetical fertilizers streaming into coastal waters.  Project Mila is also using frass to nurture mangrove seedlings, which are then planted, in partnership with local environmental agencies, in degraded areas along Mombasa’s coastline. Looking ahead, the project plans to produce briquettes from frass, offering an eco-friendly alternative to charcoal for communities that once relied on mangrove wood for fuel.

With the right regulation to overcome risks of disease in larvae production, BSF farming has the potential to become a transformative waste management and protein production practice. Its low-resource model works particularly well in temperate climates, and similar projects are already thriving all over Kenya and other countries worldwide. For step-by-step guidance, see this training manual on BSF farming for feed and biofertilizers.