SLU news

"Insects are our future"

Published: 07 February 2020
Woman giving speech.

Dr. Segenet Kelemu, icipe (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology) Director General visited SLU on 29 January and participated in a seminar about Insect research for food security together with some SLU researchers. Read an interview with Dr. Kelemu and watch the recorded seminar!

Interview with Dr. Segenet Kelemu

What brings you to Sweden this time?

- I was elected International Fellow to The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA). It was a really lovely experience with the ceremony and the dinner. It also gave me an insight of the Swedish society and how it works.

Today you talked about research and innovation activities at icipe. What were the key messages that you brought forward today in your presentation?

- We have to do things differently to protect our environment and our planet and at the same time feed the growing population and meet the nutritional requirements. Good research and science are crucial contributions.

- Insects are essential in our ecosystem and I think that insects are our future. They pollinate a lot of our crops, they clean up and decompose our waste, they feed millions of birds and they feed two billion of people around the world. So their importance cannot be underemphasized.

- There are recent studies showing that the diversity and the number of insects are decreasing globally, for various reasons. Along with that, scientists that are working with insect are declining so there is a critical shortage of insect experts globally. All these facts are very serious.

What is your view on future collaborations between SLU and icipe?

- In the agricultural sector in Africa, everybody knows SLU. We have scientists who have studied at SLU and we have friends who work here. So SLU and icipe is a natural fit.

- Ylva Hillbur has been on our board for six years and since 2013 SLU and icipe have a Memorandum of Understanding which is going to be renewed. We have so much research in common and also several ongoing funded projects. There is also a recent major capacity development inititative from the African governments. We have already selected 11 universities in Africa for collaboration, but each university has to have at least two partner universities outside of Africa. Many universities have already expressed their interest and SLU can be a natural partner also in that collaboration, to have a much bigger involvement in Africa. 

- So my hope is that SLU and icipe can walk hand in hand into the future and make a much bigger impact across the continent.

Thank you Segenet!

Seminar information

During the seminar, SLU researchers also presented relevant research followed by discussions on the importance of insect research for food security and poverty reduction to achieve zero hunger. See the seminar programme here.

Link to the recorded seminar.

Insects can work wonders for our food security and health - Article on SIANI website about Dr. Segenets visit to SLU, by Maja Malmberg, Communicator SIANI/SLU Global. 

More links 

"Hero of the field" - Bill Gates about Dr. Segenet Kelemu

International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)