In a country where rising feed costs and youth unemployment continue to squeeze livelihoods, an unlikely hero is emerging from piles of organic waste; Black Soldier Fly (BSF) farming is quietly transforming wastes from markets and backyards into opportunity, turning what was once thrown away into income, innovation, and hope.
At first glance, it is easy to dismiss a heap of rotting waste as useless. But beneath that surface, a quiet transformation is taking place. Larvae of the Black Soldier Fly are hard at work, consuming organic waste at astonishing speed, breaking it down, and converting it into something far more valuable.
Within just 10 to 14 days, what was once waste becomes a resource, turning a problem into a solution.
For Kettie Chisambi, Chief Executive Officer at North East Foods Limited, this is where the story begins.
“Black Soldier Fly farming is an innovative and sustainable system that converts organic waste into valuable products, primarily high-protein animal feed and organic fertiliser,” she explains, her voice grounded in both science and experience. But she is quick to move beyond the technical.
What makes it powerful, she suggests, is not just what it produces, but who it can empower.
“Young people do not need large land or expensive inputs to start. The materials are simple, the waste is readily available, and the production cycle is short,” Chisambi says. “It means they can start small, learn, and grow into something bigger.”
It is a message that lands differently in a country where many young people are searching for a foothold in the economy.
Unlike traditional farming, which often demands patience, capital, and favourable weather, BSF farming offers a faster, more accessible path. In just a two weeks, a cycle is complete. And with each cycle comes the possibility of income.
Chisambi leans into that idea of possibility. “This is not just farming,” she says. “It is a full value chain, from waste collection to production, to processing and selling. There are many entry points, especially for young entrepreneurs.”
That sense of opportunity is already being felt on the ground. Folacy Mtonga, a young female agriculture student, has seen it firsthand. After using BSF feed on her chicken, she began to notice something practical, something farmers care about immediately.
“I noted good growth performance and health in chicken fed on BSF,” she says. “And what stood out most is how much cheaper it is.”
She pauses on that point, cost. For many farmers, feed is the biggest expense. When that cost drops, everything changes. Margins improve. Risks reduce. The business becomes more sustainable. For Mtonga, the lesson is clear, producing feed locally is not just an alternative, it is a solution.
But as the conversation widens, the impact stretches beyond individual farms.
Across markets and communities, waste continues to pile up, creating both an environmental and health concern. Here again, BSF farming enters the conversation, not as theory, but as practice and solution.
Lickson Alexander Magoboza, a Technical Supervisor at Triple F Farms, puts it simply.
“BSF has a lot of benefits,” he says. “It is rich in protein, fats and calcium, reduces waste, and even produces organic fertiliser which many farmers struggle to afford.”
In his view, the strength of BSF farming lies in its ability to solve more than one problem at a time: It feeds animals, it cleans the environment, it supports crop production and it does all this using resources that are often ignored.
Magoboza also points to something increasingly important, efficiency. Compared to traditional farming, BSF requires less land and less water. In a time of climate uncertainty, that matters. It makes the model not just viable, but resilient.
Back at the national level, the conversation shifts again. Malawi spends significant resources on importing feed ingredients like fishmeal and soybean. These costs eventually reach the farmer, and from there, the consumer. BSF farming offers a way to interrupt that chain, to localise production and reduce dependence.
Lower feed costs could mean more production, more availability, and ultimately, more affordable protein for households, and this is where companies like North East Foods Limited are stepping in, not just to participate, but to lead.
Chisambi speaks of expansion, of building networks, of working with youth groups and farmers, and of creating structured markets for BSF products. Training, she says, is central, equipping people not just with technical skills, but with the mindset to run BSF as a business.
Still, she acknowledges, growth will need support. Investment, partnerships, policy backing, and awareness will all play a role in scaling what is still an emerging sector.
But even with those challenges, her message to young people remains steady, almost insistent.
“Start,” she advises. “Start small, start with knowledge, Start with what is available. Focus on consistency, on quality, and on building markets early, and most importantly, treat it as a business.”
This is an advice echoed in different ways by those already in the field. BSF farming is not just about flies or larvae. It is about shifting perspective, seeing value where others see waste.
In Malawi, a new story is unfolding, one handful of waste at a time, and for many young people, it may just be the beginning of something bigger.
