Talash grew up on an agricultural farm in Limuru, and the one thing that always puzzled her was, ‘How are farmers the poorest members of society yet they grow all of our food?’ “This is what I wanted to change,” she says.
In 2018, she embarked on her entrepreneurship journey after pursuing a degree in Food and Agribusiness from the HAS Green Academy in the Netherlands. She set up Insectipro, and with her first bunch of insects from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), she got the ball rolling. The company is at the intersection of innovation, science and technology as it revolutionises agriculture and waste management through the power of insects.
“After graduation, I wanted to farm fish but realised that we could not produce enough fish due to the high cost of feeds. The most expensive part of feed is protein, so I thought to myself, why farm protein at the end of the chain when there is a bigger problem in the middle? This led me to search for alternatives in the animal feed industry, and I landed on insects,” Talash says.
They grow two types of insects—the black soldier flies for animal feed and crickets for human consumption.
"Be daring and be willing to ask. You won’t know people’s answers until you ask and the worst thing you can be told is ‘No’."
The black soldier flies eat organic waste and convert it to a high-value protein that provides an alternative to fish meal and soya. They also provide high-value fertilisers.
“So far, Insectipro has recycled 18,000 metric tonnes of garbage, which has offset 16,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide,” Talash says.
The company has created enough protein to feed two million fish and has served 20,000 farmers with fertilisers. “I am content when I see the impact that our product has on the farmers,” she says.”The crickets are frozen, microwaved, and made into snacks to aid human nutrition.”
“When made into powder, you can put it in porridge or pancakes.”
For Talash, her life mantra is to always “be daring and be willing to ask. “You won’t know people’s answers until you ask and the worst thing you can be told is ‘No’.”
When she is not travelling for work and trying new foods, you will find Talash reading. “I love reading books on murder mysteries.”
– By Caroline Wanjugu and Lilys Njeru
