Palm weevils. To look at, these tiny bugs are relatively unassuming, perhaps even slightly creepy to the insect-adverse. To Mohammed Ashour, however, they are the solution to many of the ills facing the developing world. The humble palm weevil could potentially eradicate world hunger and malnutrition, it could lift whole communities out of poverty, and bring down global C02 levels. For a creature measuring just a few inches in length, that's a lot of power.
"If anything, our business model is too disruptive," says Ashour, who launched Aspire with four fellow MBA students from McGill University. Their aim is to introduce insect farming to countries with an affinity for insect consumption and a lack of access to nutritional sustenance.
Their idea won them the 2013 Hult Prize, which provides $1m seed money for the most game-changing social enterprise, as well backing from the Canadian government-funded Grand Challenges. With their winnings, Aspire set up a pilot program in Ghana, where food insecurity remains an issue in various parts of the country.
Currently, 75% of pre-school-aged children and two-thirds of pregnant women in Ghana suffer from anemia, according to the World Health Organization.
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