The natural resources in Ethiopia are under intense pressure as a result of population
growth and inappropriate farm practices. Introducing alternatives could be a step
forward in reducing the impact of farming on natural resources. In Ethiopia, the
pressure on water bodies and land is high which results into water shortages and land
degradation. Aquaponics is an interesting alternative compared to conventional
agriculture, as aquaponics has the ability to reduce pressure on water and land.
Therefore, aquaponics could help to secure food production in meeting the demands
for its rising population. Therefore in the last two years, aquaponic projects have been
starting up in Ethiopia (Slingerland, 2015). However, one of the current difficulties of
aquaponic systems in Ethiopia, is the lack of quality fish-feed as an input for the
aquaponic systems. The Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) could be a sustainable
alternative for fish feed. BSFL have high nutrient values and can be locally produced.
Therefore, BSFL seems a suitable option for producing quality feed for aquaponic
systems. For these reasons, the focus of this thesis research is conducted in twofold:
The first focus is to compare the water and land use of aquaponics with conventional
agriculture by analysing five literature cases of aquaponics in the same context of
Ethiopia. The second focus is to identify the potential opportunities and barriers of
BSFL farming within aquaponic systems in Ethiopia. This was done by a combination
of single-semi structured interviews and focus-group discussions with farmers and keyinformants
of aquaponic systems. Also, to be certain if BSFL have potential to be used
as fish feed in Ethiopia, it was important to conduct experiments in order to confirm if
BSFL naturally occurred in Ethiopia. The results of the literature review on the five
case studies show that aquaponic systems reduce the water and land use compared
to conventional agriculture. The results on the main opportunities of implementation of
BSFL farming show that reduction of costs, independency and waste reduction are
seen as the main opportunities. The main barriers seen of BSFL farming is the difficulty
of the breeding process, insufficient breeding quantity, fear for diseases and the
amount of labour. Another important barrier for implementing BSFL farming for
aquaponics systems in Ethiopia is that the BSF is seen as an unknown species
according to Ethiopian law. Based on national law, the government should first conduct
an proper ecological assessment in order to acknowledge natural occurrence of BSF.