Building Circular Food Systems

Investing in Impact

P4G awarded the partnership $583,825 in grant funding.  

The Building Circular Food Systems partnership uses Black Soldier Fly larvae to replace protein sources such as wild-caught fish and soya, mitigating ecosystem destruction and deforestation.  

The partnership will build three new waste management and conversion facilities in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, and expand two existing facilities in Kenya and Tanzania. Combined, these facilities can offtake up to 90 metric tons of waste per day that would otherwise end up in landfills. Additionally, each new and expanded facility will include multiple waste aggregation and community engagement projects which will improve local waste disposal awareness and increase sustainably managed waste.  

Since January 2023, the partnership had collected more than 1,900 metric tons of organic waste in Tanzania. This has benefited more than 13,000 farmers and prevented 972 tons of Co2 emission and 43 metric tons of methane from entering the atmosphere. Since June 2023, the project has collected an average of 12 metric tons of organic waste from the community in Tanzania, an 86% increase from the daily average in January. 

In August 2023, the partnership launched a new waste collection and conversion facility in Nairobi, Kenya that has the capacity to process at least 18 metric tons of organic waste daily. A waste separation and collection partnership with Taka Taka Solutions in Kenya will ensure a steady supply of organic waste.  

A distinct innovation of this partnership model is the satellite facility concept where Chanzi builds smaller facilities across multiple sites instead of operating from one decentralized location. This reduces transportation costs and encourages rapid growth. 

The P4G partnership comprises three companies: Chanzi, Unilever, and AB InBev, and nonprofit organization, the AB InBev Foundation (ABIF). Chanzi is the commercial partner driving the business model, while ABIF convenes stakeholders to progress this model and monitors and evaluates the partnership. Unilever and AB InBev supply Chanzi with organic waste that is converted into animal protein.  

This partnership aligns with the food loss and waste reduction priorities of P4G country partners Kenya and South Africa. Through acceleration, P4G will help the partnership refine its business model to become financially sustainable. P4G will also connect the partnership with National Platforms in its partner countries to share regulatory interventions that could help with scaling. 

During the P4G funding period, Building Circular Food Systems estimates that it can reduce almost 5,000 metric tons of food waste and avoid 18,500 metric tons of carbon emissions.