Taxpayers' cash being used to build insect farm - 2,300 miles away in Africa
Campaigners have criticised taxpayers' money being spent on building an insect farm in Tunisia. Bryant Research, which wants people to eat less meat, said millions is being invested in French firm, nextProtein, by the UK Government's overseas finance arm, British International Investment (BII).
The insect producer wants to scale up its operations in the north African country, but Bryant Research urged the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to block the deal. BII unveiled its major investment in nextProtein in November. The money will be used to build expand production capacity at the insect farm to produce 12,000 tons of insect-based ingredients per year.
This would include 2,500 tons of protein powder annually, with billions of bugs produced every year.
Dr Chris Bryant, Executive Director of Bryant Research, said: "British taxpayers will be outraged to hear that their hard-earned cash is being used to build a giant insect farm in Tunisia.
"Insect farming companies are going bankrupt, left, right and centre. The Government shouldn't be gambling taxpayers' money on this high-risk sector."
He said research showed insect farming isn't good for the planet, urging ministers to block the deal and ensure taxpayers' money isn't wasted on "economically questionable and environmentally unsound projects".
BII co-led a funding round alongside other funders. Bryant Research said the Government has not yet disclosed exactly how much taxpayers' money has been put in, but claimed with BII as "co-lead" of the round, it is likely to be millions of pounds. BII has been approached for comment.
Announcing the backing in November, BII's Coverage Director and Egypt Office head, said: "By turning agricultural and food waste into scalable, low-carbon animal feeds, nextProtein demonstrates how agri-tech can reshape food systems and reduce environmental impact.
"As our first direct investment in Tunisia, nextProtein not only helps to protect the ocean and reduce emissions, but it also paves the way to attract more investments in novel climate start-ups in support of Africa's climate innovation."
nextProtein uses black soldier flies to make nextMeal protein powder, nextOil oil and nextGrow fertiliser. Its products are mainly sold to the aquaculture, livestock and pet food industries.
BII invests UK taxpayers' money overseas.
Bryant Research said while insect farming has been touted as a silver bullet for climate and the environment, a growing body of peer-reviewed scientific evidence has revealed the environmental claims of insect farming are "deeply questionable".
It pointed to a DEFRA-commissioned report which the organisation said had found insect protein could be 13.5 times worse for the climate than soy.
Experts have also warned that insects escaping from farms could be deeply damaging for local ecosystems.
Recent weeks have seen a spate of bankruptcies. Bryant Research said this suggests using taxpayers' money to subsidise insect companies was very high risk.
French insect company Ynsect recently went bankrupt, despite having received millions of Euros in subsidies from the French government. It was once the biggest insect farming company in the world, having received hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment.
Danish company ENORM also recently collapsed as did South African company Inseco. Aspire Food Group also shut down a cricket farm.
Bryant Research said: "In sum, the timing of this deal is terrible, and raises questions about what due diligence was performed before authorising the investment."
Campaigners from the group have called for the Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to block the deal and pledge to stop funding insect projects globally.
The FCDO and nextProtein have been approached for comment.
Welcoming news of the funding, nextProtein said the company is one of Europe's leading insect protein scale-ups and the money means it will be able to serve more of its partners in aquaculture and agriculture.
It insisted insect protein can compete on an industrial scale, adding the oceans are overfished and farmland is overstretched.