Maggots key to crisis-time fertilizer for Ugandan farmers
Moses Wamugango peered into the plastic vats where maggots wriggled in decomposing filth, the enviable project of a neighbor who spoke of the fertilizer problem he had been able to solve
KAYUNGA, Uganda (AP) — Moses Wamugango peered into the plastic vats where maggots wriggled in decomposing filth, the enviable project of a neighbor who spoke of the fertilizer problem he had been able to solve.
The maggots are the larvae of the black soldier fly, an insect whose digestive system effectively turns food waste into organic fertilizer. Farmers normally would despise them if they weren't so valuable.
“I want the maggots too," Wamugango said. The agriculture officials who distribute the vats for free took his name two weeks ago and said they would give him four to start. "I am still waiting. The last time they came, they didn't reach my place. That's the problem I have right now."
Uganda is a regional food basket, but rising commodity prices blamed on Russia's war in Ukraine are hurting farmers. Fertilizer prices have doubled or tripled, with some popular products hard to find on the market, according to the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership, a nonprofit that supports agriculture across the continent.
