NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The Japan International Cooperation Agency has invested $2.5 million in a U.S. startup in Nairobi that uses flies to process biowaste in an initiative to help address the city’s growing sanitation needs and also help farmers across Kenya produce more crops with fertilizer produced as a byproduct.

Sanergy Inc. uses a “circular economy” approach — collecting excrement and other organic waste from places such as markets, farms and restaurants, and then turning the waste into useful products including feed and biofuel.

At its pilot plant, Sanergy produces and sells insect feed called KuzaPro created from the larvae of the black soldier flies that feed on the biowaste.