Marian Peters of NGN trained 43 farmers selected from 10 Springboard communities. The training took place from 2-4 March 2022 at the Springboard premises in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. The activities are supported with a grant from USAID and implemented in collaboration with the Springboard Cooperative.

Currently two demo farms are set up and 10 farmers have set-up their own farms. The crickets are growing well, because in this region the temperature is around constantly 30 degrees during day and night. No extra insulation of farm buildings nor heating is required. The warm temperature influences the growth of crickets positively; the cycle time from egg to harvest is 4 weeks! this makes the business model most attractive.

Additional 15 farmers will be supported to start their own cricket farm at their backyard or on their farm plots. This will serve as another source of income for all benefitting farmers. Springboard will purchase all produced crickets from farmers to produce bread and muffins fortified with cricket powder.