Black Soldier Fly (BSF) offers dual benefits as a sustainable protein source for animal feed and as a converter of organic waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer, supporting climate-resilient food systems. Despite these advantages, adoption of BSF-derived products remains limited in West Africa. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of farmers and traders toward BSF-based feed and fertilizer and to identify the socio-economic determinants influencing their adoption. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in June 2023 among 1153 respondents in Ghana (n = 252), Mali (n = 386), and Niger (n = 515) using structured questionnaires administered through computer-assisted personal interviews. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) model. The findings revealed generally low awareness of BSF technologies. Although respondents recognized the insect (43%) and had seen its larvae (48%), only 10% had heard about BSF, while only 7% knew that BSF could convert biowaste into fertilizer and animal feed. Knowledge that BSF-based fertilizers could be used for vegetable cultivation and that BSF larvae could be used for poultry and fish feed was also low (6%). Attitudinal responses showed moderate acceptance, with 35% of respondents agreeing that BSF fertilizer is safe for vegetable production and 34% agreeing that BSF-based animal feed is safe for poultry and fish farming. Willingness-to-practice outcomes were comparatively higher: 38% of respondents were willing to apply BSF fertilizer, 90% were willing to learn how to produce BSF feed, and 85% expressed willingness to trade in BSF products. The SUR results showed that education significantly improved attitudes and practices among poultry and fish farmers, while frequent vegetable consumption positively influenced attitudes and practices among vegetable farmers. Respondents in Niger generally recorded lower knowledge and attitude scores compared to Ghana and Mali. Among traders, age negatively influenced knowledge and attitude, while traders who were sons or daughters of household heads showed lower knowledge and practice levels. The findings suggest that awareness creation, practical demonstrations, and targeted extension support may be important for improving understanding and acceptance of BSF-derived products in West Africa. The study provides baseline evidence to support context-specific policies and interventions aimed at promoting BSF-based innovations within sustainable agricultural and circular bioeconomy systems.

While black soldier fly frass (BSFF) has the potential to be a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers, it has received little attention, especially within the agricultural economics community. This study contributes to filling this research gap by assessing: (i) vegetable farmers' intentions to buy BSFF, (ii) the determinants of participation in institutional arrangements (IAs), such as extension access and group membership, and (iii) the impact of participation in IAs on vegetable farmers' likelihood of intending to buy BSFF. Using cross-sectional data from 790 vegetable farmers collected in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Mali, and Niger, we found that about 63 per cent of the farmers intended to buy BSFF across countries, and about 84 per cent in Niger, 67 per cent in Ghana, 62 per cent in DRC, and 47 per cent in Mali. The multinomial endogenous treatment effect (METE) results show that vegetable farmers' likelihood of intending to buy BSFF increases by 5 to 6 percentage points with extension access only, and by less than 1 percentage point with group membership only. When farmers simultaneously have access to extension services and are members of farmers' groups, the probability of intending to buy BSFF is 8 percentage points higher. These results suggest the need to strengthen institutional arrangements for scaling up circular Bioeconomy-based technologies in sub-Saharan Africa.

IntroductionBlack soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are increasingly promoted as cost-effective, and environmentally friendly source of protein in animal nutrition. However, there is limited information about farmers' adoption rates and the factors influencing their adoption decisions in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This article assesses livestock farmers' actual and potential adoption rates of BSFL and determinants of their adoption decisions.MethodsIn this paper, we used the treatment effect framework approach on data collected from 1,885 fish, poultry, and pig smallholder farmers in five cities of four West and Central African countries, including Kinshasa and Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Accra in Ghana, Bamako in Mali, and Niamey in Niger.Results and discussionThe results show that about 20 percent of surveyed farmers are aware of BSFL as a protein source in animal feed, and the actual adoption rate of BSFL is four percent. However, the treatment effect analysis showed that the adoption rate could quadruple if all farmers were aware. This result suggests that successful awareness creation can boost the actual adoption of BSFL, which currently stands at four percent. The awareness creation should target educated livestock farmers with access to group membership, credit, extension services, and diversified income sources to influence their decisions to adopt BSFL as a source of protein in animal feed.

Despite the broad focus on necessity- and opportunity-driven entrepreneurship in research and policy, the entrepreneurial dichotomy within the agribusiness context has not been adequately addressed. This study contributes to closing this knowledge gap by examining youth's perceptions of agribusiness through the lens of the push-pull motivation framework. Results reveal that 47% of youth are driven into agribusiness by both necessity and opportunity, while 41% by necessity alone and only 12% by opportunity alone. Key factors shaping youth's perceptions include gender, education, food processing participation, agribusiness-related training, land ownership, monthly income, and family farming background. The result further identifies significant heterogeneity in the drivers of perceptions-based on location, gender, and agribusiness roles, suggesting the need to tailor agricultural program interventions to ensure the best fit. Notably, enhancing access to formal education and agribusiness training, encouraging participation in food processing, and improving land access are critical to enhancing youth participation in agribusiness.

Insects can represent a valuable and cost effective source of animal feed in Africa. Recently, the interest in incorporating black -soldier fly larvae (BSFL) in animal feed has increased tremendously. However, many factors, including food neophobia and social and cultural context may affect consumers' perception of insecttechnologies -derived food products. This study shed light on consumers' perception of the usage of BSFL as animal feed and consumption, buying, and commercialization of food from animals fed on BSFL in DR Congo, Mali, and Niger. We used data from 1560 consumers that were analyzed applying parametric and non -parametric tests and the generalized ordered logit model. Our findings show that about 87 % of respondents consider that consuming food from animals fed on BSFL is acceptable and 34 % accept buying eggs, fish, and meat from animals fed on BSFL. However, about 40 % of consumers recommend the label differentiation of BSFtechnologies-derived food products and they also expect a lower price than conventional animal feed products. The analysis of factors driving consumers' readiness to buy BSF-derived food products have revealed that effective market penetration of BSF-technologies-derived food products could be achieved with great awareness creation, targeting farming households, married and literate heads. Furthermore, strategic communication and intensive sensitization through farmers' associations will be crucial. Finally, credit access and income diversification are also necessary to support consumers' choices toward sustainable food habits built on bio-circular economy.

The use of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae and frass in agriculture can make an important contribution to food and nutrition security. However, it is important to understand whether consumers are willing to consume food products resulting from the use of BSF larvae as animal feed or BSF frass as fertilizer. This study employed the stated preference approach as food products produced using BSF larvae and frass are not currently available on the market. Questionnaires were administered to a total of 4412 consumers in Ghana (1360), Mali (1603), and Niger (1449). The results show that the vast majority of respondents are willing to consume vegetables (88%) produced using BSF frass and meat (87%) produced using animal feed made of BSF larvae. A smaller percentage of respondents are even willing to pay USD 1.32 and USD 1.7 more if the base price of BSF-based products were USD 5 per kg. Age, gender, education, and country positively influenced the respondents’ willingness to consume food produced using BSF products. In contrast, neighborhood status, income, and household size are inversely related to the respondents’ willingness to pay for and consume these products. Our findings are, therefore, important to scaling up BSF technologies in the region.

Access to adequate and nutritious food is accepted as a human right worldwide. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kasai Oriental province is one of the most vulnerable provinces in the country in terms of food insecurity. However, its current depth of food insecurity and the root factors have not been studied. Against this background, this study used cross-sectional data from 318 households to analyze the magnitude and socioeconomic drivers of food insecurity among rural households in the province. We developed two food security indicators: the food consumption score (FCS) and household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS), and applied the ordinary least square (OLS) and the negative binomial model for the analysis. Our findings show that households rely mainly on vegetables to meet their food need, consume more energy, and have limited access to protein, vitamin, and fat-rich foods. All the surveyed households were deficient in food quantity, while 75 % were deficient in quality. The study noted that the severity of food insecurity is zone-specific and more pronounced in the Kabeya Kamwanga territory than in others. Importantly, the poverty and education levels among households associated with large household sizes were the significant determinants of food insecurity in the area. These results strongly demonstrate the need for agrifood interventions that foster education, enable efficient land use, and target poor households in the province.

In many African countries, land access and tenure insecurity pose significant challenges to agriculture, in particular for the youth. As the farming population ages, young people are expected to take over, but they don't often show much interest in farming, which could harm the future of agriculture in Africa, where the population is the youngest. Land reforms and titling programs are suggested as amongst strategies to make agriculture more attractive to investors and promote youth involvement. As a result, majority African countries undertook reforms such as land titling, ownership mapping and market facilitation as policy prescriptions for promoting youth involvement in agriculture. Nonetheless, the impact of these programs is not well documented in the body of literature thus constraining policy decisions. This study examines the impact of land titling on youth participation in agriculture in Tanzania, using 2020/2021's wave of Tanzania national panel survey data with a sample size of 2725 youth households from 419 enumeration areas. The study finds that land titling is a critical factor in promoting youth participation in agriculture in Tanzania, with young people who have titled land tending to allocate more resources (time) to farming activities. The study also identified farm size, educational level, and land dispute experience as significant factors influencing youth participation in agriculture. Based on these findings, the study recommends interventions to promote youth participation in agriculture in Tanzania, including investing in land titling programs that specifically target young people and promoting educational programs that equip young people with foundational skills. The study also highlights the need for tailored interventions that address the specific needs of different groups of young people. Overall, the study underlines the importance of promoting youth participation in agriculture in Tanzania and by extension to other African countries to contribute to food security and rural development.

Achieving the United Nation’s 2030 agenda which aims, among other goals, to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, requires a sustainable resource use model deployed at scale across global food systems. A circular bioeconomy (CBE) model of resource use has been proposed to reuse of organic waste in agricultural production to enhance food security. However, despite several initiatives recently introduced towards establishing a CBE in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), minimal scientific efforts have been dedicated to understanding the association of CBE practices and food security. This study use data from 777 smallholder farm households from DRC, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and South Africa, to examine associations between three CBE practices (use of organic waste as compost, as livestock feed, and sorting waste) and household food security. Using different regression and propensity score matching models (PSM). Result reveal that using CBE practices more likely adds a 0.203 score of food insecurity access prevalence (HFIAP), 1.283 food insecurity access scale (HFIAS-score) and 0.277 for household dietary diversity score (HDDS) among households using CBE practiced groups. Associations regarding using organic waste as compost are generally positive but insignificant, while those with sorting waste are significantly and consistently negative. Thus, CBE innovations aiming to enhance household food security could prioritize organic waste valorization into livestock feed consider socio economic aspects such as access to land, access to market, education level, using mobile phone, income and city regions where interventions took place. However, prior sorting of waste is necessary to enable effective waste valorization.

In many markets, consumers believe things about products that are not true. We study how incorrect beliefs about product quality can persist even after a consumer has used a product many times. We explore the example of fertilizer in East Africa. Farmers believe much local fertilizer is counterfeit or adulterated; however, multiple studies have established that nearly all fertilizer in the area is good quality. We develop a learning model to explain how these incorrect beliefs persist. We show that when the distributions of outcomes using good and bad quality products overlap, agents can misattribute bad luck or bad management to bad quality. Our learning model and its simulations show that the presence of misattribution inhibits learning about quality and that goods like fertilizer with unobservable quality that are inputs into production processes characterized by stochasticity should be thought of as credence goods, not experience goods. Our results suggest that policy makers should pursue quality assurance programs for products that are vulnerable to misattribution.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector remains for youth a key pillar for income creation. However, few are attracted by agribusiness despite stakeholders' efforts toward engaging youth in agriculture. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial potential characteristics and youth desirability to start an enterprise in agriculture among 514 young people in Eastern DRC. This study revealed that youth in South Kivu have different entrepreneurship potential features and agribusiness desirability levels according to their gender and living area. Hence, the youth's agribusiness desirability is motivated by an awareness of emerging agripreneurial activities, land ownership, parent involvement in farming activities as a role model, perceived agribusiness as an employment source, management-organizing and opportunistic competencies, market analysis, negotiating, and planning skills. Therefore, efforts to attract youth into agribusiness should focus on the use of media, the creation of awareness of available agribusiness initiatives in their area, and the setup of land policy. This is in addition to putting in place capacity-building programs on entrepreneurial and business skills through incubators, and the formalization of youth agribusiness groups that foster capitalizing experiences between new and accelerated agripreneurial enterprises, with the support of parents and financial institutions, focusing on gender sensitivity, in both rural and urban areas.

This study examined the determinants and impacts of mobile money (MM) usage on maize productivity and poverty likelihood (i.e., the probability of a household falling below the international poverty line at USD 1.9 per capita per day) in the Mbeya Region, Tanzania. The analysis was conducted using the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model on data from a random sample of 1310 households selected from seven districts in the region. Results of the ESR estimation show that MM usage is strongly and positively associated with the education level of the household head, asset ownership, credit access, input access, and social networks. MM usage is also significantly associated with increased maize productivity and a reduced poverty likelihood. Farmers who chose to use MM services increased their maize productivity by about 124 kg/acre and reduced their poverty likelihood by nearly 25 percentage points, as measured by the progress out of poverty index. These findings call for a targeted approach to reaching and supporting MM usage among households with constrained access to formal financial services to increase maize productivity and reduce poverty likelihood.

•By applying multivariate probit combination, sorting organic from inorganic waste and using organic waste as compost had contributed to success in engagement in circular bio economy (CBE) practices in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Rwanda, and South Africa.•Sorting waste and using organic waste as livestock feeds contributed to engagement in CBE practices.•Using organic waste as compost and livestock, feed had the lowest likelihood of success in engagement in CBE practices.•CBE innovations intending to achieve circular food systems through promoting combinations of CBE practices among smallholders, stand higher chances to succeed, more so if engaged in sorting waste and using organic waste as compost.•Categorical analysis also gives distinct predictions of what could naturally happen concerning combinations of CBE practices being discretely possible for smallholder households.

This article identifies the determinants, crop productivity, and household welfare impacts of adopting certified seeds of improved cassava varieties (c-ICVs) in Uganda. The determinants were identified using the two-part model while the crop productivity and household welfare impacts were assessed using the endogenous switching regression model. The data came from 609 farm households in Uganda’s three major cassava-growing regions (Eastern, Northern, and mid-Western). The results showed that adopters of c-ICVs experienced a considerable increase in productivity (stem and root yields) and improvement in welfare outcomes (cash income and consumption expenditure). The results provide evidence of the effectiveness of the country’s seed certification and genetic improvement efforts over recent years and justify increased investments in genetic improvement and seed certification.

The second phase of the Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA II) project was implemented through a strong collaboration between research and private sector. Private seed companies were provided with a wide variety of training and development activities on good agronomic practices (GAPs). However, the effects of the training activities were yet to be evaluated. This paper evaluated the contribution of the training on high-quality seed yam production through paying particular attention to how it was tailored to the needs of various farmers, and how the knowledge gained was transferred to the field. The study employed an applied Kirkpatrick model and descriptive statistics to measure the indicators of training effectiveness. Results from a statistical population of 172 farmers using 179 demonstration fields showed that the farmers’ training on GAPs was effective, based on four criteria of the Kirkpatrick training evaluation process. The satisfactory results at the beginning of the hierarchical model have implications on the satisfactory results at the end. Improving the effectiveness of a training depends on defining factors such as (i) Training based on satisfaction in meeting the needs of your trainees and the seed production business; (ii) Training based on learning objectives in improving the trainees’ skills and knowledge; and (iii) Training based on learner attitude change in applying new skills and knowledge in the fields. Conclusions drawn from this study indicated that the training was a reasonable value-added mechanism of improved agricultural knowledge and practices for enhancing high-quality seed yam production in Nigeria.

The agribusiness sector development is often portrayed as an essential component of economic development. Though Benin is a country with inestimable agricultural potential, the agribusiness sector appears unappealing to the local youths. Prior investigations diagnosed the impeding factors as a paucity of financial resource and a dearth of land and technical knowledge. This article departs from past studies by considering the importance of informal institutions for youth participation in the agribusiness sector. Exploring a rich data set of 478 youths aged 15 to 35, collected in Southern Benin based on the stratified random sampling technique, the article uses propensity score matching to address selection bias and logistic regression on the matched sample to link informal institutions to youth participation in agribusiness. Results highlight that agribusiness-unfriendly informal institutions discourage youth participation in the agribusiness sector. Though easing access to finance is crucial for the youths to initiate agribusiness activities, findings make a case for long-term policies that aim to increase the societal levels of trust and desirability for the agribusiness sector.

This paper provides evidence on the effect of informal institutions on youth participation in agribusiness in Southern Benin. The paper exploits the richness of microdata of 576 youngs and uses the propensity score matching technique to address issues related to selection bias. Findings suggest that informal institutions are crucial to youth participation in agribusiness. The low level of trust, the low societal desirability for agribusiness, and the lack of self-confidence typical of hierarchical society hamper the youth to harness untapped opportunities available in the agribusiness. In addition, we also found that the lack of land and technical knowledge hold back youngs to participate in agribusiness. Drawing on these findings, we recommend policymakers initiate institutional reforms that are agribusiness-friendly. On top of that, it is crucial to be assured that the youth have access to land and technical capacity to venture into agribusiness activities.

Poverty persists in many developing countries, including Nigeria, owing to inadequate infrastructure, unemployment, or poor working conditions, among other factors. Youth poverty and vulnerability to poverty have been identified to prevalent among the young population. Using an endogenous switching probit regression approach, in this study, we evaluated the impacts of youth participation in agribusiness programs (YIAPs) on poverty and vulnerability to poverty in Nigeria. Our findings revealed that some demographic and institutional factors significantly influence poverty and vulnerability to poverty among youth. The impact estimates indicate that participation in an agribusiness program has a significant positive effect on poverty reduction among youth. Moreover, there would have been about a 28% reduction in exposure to future poverty for non-participants had they participated in a YIAP. Our results suggest that intervention programs, such as YIAPs, that focus on skill acquisition and youth empowerment should be strengthened and scaled-up in order to improve youth welfare and subsequently reduce/eradicate poverty and vulnerability to poverty among youth.

This article assesses the opinions of youth tomato growers on the accessibility of agricultural credit and factors that influence the accessibility in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Data originated from a household survey for the 2019/2020 farming season. We interviewed 218 youth tomato growers from 6 horticulture production zones in the South-Kivu, eastern DRC. The result reveals a low rate of 20.6% on accessing agricultural credit among tomato growers. The topmost nature of agricultural credit received was cash-based, mostly from informal sources of finance (92.7%). The findings reveal that the lack of information on agricultural credit, the fear of credit default, and the absence of Microfinance Institutions in the study areas were the highest-ranking factors hindering tomato growers from accessing agricultural credit services. Our probit model shows that total household income, gender, and tomato growers’ membership in a cooperative were essential factors that explain the probability of accessing agricultural credit. We recommend formalising the agricultural credit system by improving agri-finance extension service delivery to associations of tomato growers among the young to access and use agricultural microcredit services effectively to enhance agricultural production, which is a proxy for rural employment creation and poverty reduction.