OUR VISION & STORY
Nambu was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in the farmlands just outside the town of Makhanda in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. From the initial pilot project, operations have expanded rapidly and continue to grow, including a second site in East London.
Our facility is currently scaling up to process up to 100 tons of food and organic waste per month producing about 20 tons of protein rich BSF based livestock feed.
The majority of the organic waste comes in the form of food waste and is supplied by partnerships with local school and university cafeterias, restaurants and supermarkets.
Currently Nambu supplies local farmers with protein feed and the company is actively seeking to build partnerships across Southern Africa. To facilitate this and meet growing demand several pilot projects have already been initiated across the province to increase yield and shorten supply chains.
Nambu also engages in consulting and provides the supplies and training needed for anyone looking to start their own Black Soldier Fly feed operation.
In the very near future Nambu will introduce of a range of products geared toward pet owners.
Yes, protein derived from the Black Soldier Fly is great for cats and dogs too!
OUR PARTNERS
Nambu’s founder, Lowell Scarr, is completing a PhD in Economics through Rhodes University. The focus of his work is on the factors that contribute to success in agri-business and other businesses that operate within a rural context.
His academic background combined with his desire to find sustainable, effective solutions to the environmental, economic and food security challenges facing South Africa, almost instinctively led him to Insect Protein substitutes for current livestock feeds.
After extensive research that included field trips across South East Asia and attending conferences across Africa & Europe, Scarr settled on Insect Protein derived from the Black Soldier Fly.
Farming these particular insects is intensive and efficient and thus reduces the need for water and arable land. An added bonus to the BSF is that the biggest input into the system is human societies near inexhaustible supply of food and organic waste.
It just makes environmental and economic sense to switch to this kind of livestock feed production.
And almost from the start others have agreed with him!
Scarr has received financial support from the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation which invests in the education and development of “individuals with entrepreneurial potential within Southern Africa”.
Seeing the potential of his academic work in combination with his passion, Allan Gray continued their support and played an integral part in the establishment and grow of Nambu through the
E Squared investment initiative.
Scarr and Nambu now stand ready to play an ever growing role in supplying increasing Global demand for animal feed in a truly sustainable way.
But for Scarr, it’s not just about selling an excellent product:
“To feed the future we need to work on self-sufficiency and resilience.
We can’t do this by hoarding our knowledge. I want to share what I have learned with everyone so that they can start their own [Black Soldier Fly] operations on their farms.
We’re about teaching and training as much as we are about selling [the livestock feed]”