Born and bred in Johannesburg, Maya Zaken started her educational journey in political studies. However, it was only later that she found her love and passion in agriculture, working with black soldier flies.
She completed her BCom degree at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2018, which she topped off with an honours degree in economic sciences in 2019. Zaken furthered her professional goals as a freelance content writer at Afri Trails for the next two years.
She describes it as a time for her to do relief work in the townships of Johannesburg and although the experience was satisfactory, a small part of her still felt it was not enough.
Planting the seeds
“I was proud of myself and the work I was doing was very necessary, but I also couldn’t help but just contemplate how unsustainable it was for everyone involved. I think it was after my degree that I started to turn towards agriculture as a way of development,” she says.
“So that sent me on my journey of agriculture and after doing some permaculture courses and beekeeping, I found black soldier flies and that is where we are today.”
Zaken partnered with Jason Fine, originally from Cape Town, to start their own black soldier flies farm in Knysna called Philafeed. It aims to make use of natural waste to produce organic compost whilst serving as a natural habitat for their black soldier flies.
The unstoppable duo
Having completed his BCom in marketing at Varsity College, Pine continued to work for an IT company for four years. He developed an interest in waste management and ways of keeping the planet healthy.
“In a research meeting with all different types of recycling and waste management, Maya introduced me to black soldier flies,” he says.
It was love at first sight for the duo, and although the development journey to establishing their own business had its own speedbumps, Zaken felt it was something she could not give up on. Soon both left their lives in the city to start over in Knysna, a warmer and more rural area.
It was their priority to build their warehouse where all the magic would take place. Within a few weeks, the couple saw that their first warehouse was built, and business was underway. Pine admits that it was their most significant achievement for the farm.
“Black soldier flies are quite long and slender. They maintain the most protein while they’re in their larval stage, they are very dense in protein and fat. That’s the appealing side of the larva for farmers, but black soldier flies as a whole have so many environmental, nutritional and economical benefits,” explains Zaken.
The lucrative business market was established as local poultry farmers bought into the idea of having pure protein for their birds. Zaken explains the protein was perfect for the birds and their feathers and body structure improved .“Plus, they love the way they taste!” she adds.
Fine says black soldier flies have proven to be a profitable business, which made his connection to Zaken even more meaningful. When she approached him with the idea, it was hard to say no.
Conquering the challenges
After their move to Knysna with little experience with life on a farm, things were a bit difficult for the pair at first. They had to navigate through unpredictable weather conditions like hailstorms that are quite prevalent in the area.
Zaken says dealing with issues like an invasion of different pests and insects was a journey to get through.
Due to the nature of black soldier flies, the larva prefers certain conditions and climates. And while the complete greenhouse was a big win, getting used to the new climate was not easy. The temperature inside the building was too hot for the larvae.
“We had to come up with ways to cool it down. And you know, without having the biggest budget, we must come up with cost-effective ones,” explains Fine.
The next challenge was to figure out a heating system for the winter season. Extremely cold weather conditions would decrease the larvae’s eating patterns, which ultimately limits their growth and eventually the flies’ mating patterns.
This is why the couple set their eyes on their goal to create a low-tech, low-carbon model that can be implemented in different rural areas using technologies that are simple to teach and anyone can use.
‘Loving your larvae’
Zaken admits that at first, she was a bit squeamish about working with the insects. “But when you have a look at them in your hand you realise that these little guys are actually cute, and you learn to love your larvae.”
“There was a time when I actually threw a bucket of larvae at her and she was screaming all over the place,” jokes Pine.
As part of his everyday duties, Fine wakes up early in the morning to go to the farm and separate the newly born larvae from their waste environment. Afterwards, he stores them in water to further separate them from each other.
After leaving them alone for a while, he’ll keep the drums clean and mix a mixture of organic waste into compost matter. He then harvests the larvae, washes them and they are ready for production and consumption.
“Naturally, black soldier flies will lay eggs near a waste source so that they know when their eggs hatch, the larvae are going to be well fed and their babies are taken care of. And once the eggs hatch, then they’ll grow for over two to three weeks as worms and then they change colour from white to black. At this stage they are maturing as flies,” he says.
The destination made it all worthwhile
Zaken says, “Coming from Joburg, you know, being a city girl I think I disconnected from food and the food system completely. I don’t think I understood it and I never understood agriculture. I did not know how intricate the food system really is and how vulnerable it is to the prices of commodities. To be honest, I never even imagined anything like the agri-feed sector.
“I realised that our food needs food to survive. And that’s an entire industry. This is why this is so special for us.”
ALSO READ: SA roots: Codi’s dreams turn into microgreens
Get Stories of Change: Inspirational stories from the people that feed Mzansi.
