Page 35 - Agricultural innovation

Figure 10. Criket farming using solar energy
Source: Country Report of Cambodia

are developing their own plant-based feed, which is 19–21% protein content. They spent a lot of time
validating feedstock because the crickets require particular feeds and protein levels. Depending on
the level of literacy of the farmer so they do have videos available to teach, can also connect via social
media. If they are not literate, they can send voice messages or send videos as a form of communication.
Agri House holds partnerships with Eurocham, through building a relationship with the European
Market. Ly Ly food is their main partner for export, they also hold partnerships with Impact Hub,
and World Food Program. They were able to get their primary income stream from The World Food
Programme, and Samaritan’s Purse, who also helps the farmers with the funding. Agri House also
received a grant from Energy Lab, which was funded by UNDP.

4.3.3. Opportunities and challenges
Simple evaluation was made daily, through testing everything and making sure that they are in order.
There are no exact criteria for evaluation, however. The innovation required a lot of time and can be
costly. Due to the old traditional way of raising crickets, it is hard to convince potential customers to
change their ways and be patient by following every particular step. It is about building, adopting,
and finding someone to also validate their innovation. Thus, the only solution available is to keep
being patient and pushing through to convince more people to change the way they raise crickets. In
order to mitigate the challenges, Agri House requested that CapRed should support them in monetary
funding and there should be research development that helps with pinpointing the challenges and
finding solutions.
Right now, Agri House is working on their new products, which are cricket snacks, cricket powders
and roasted crickets as a form of healthy superfood snack to also provide a new stream of revenue.
Agri House currently is looking for support from the government since there is little to none for
them to invest more into the crickets and insect industry, especially since Agri House is the first to
register because it is difficult to find which exact sector they are in. Moreover, they are seeking for the
government to boost the insect industry in Cambodia by expanding the market and making it easier

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