Silkworm, Bombyx mori
Crop production can fail when climate becomes erratic or when new diseases and pests are introduced. In parts of the globe, farmers and their governments are looking for alternatives to traditional crops that fail.
Recently, Kenya has been suffering from climate changes that lower yield of traditional crops like tea, coffee and maize. Kenya has been exploring the possibility of expanding silk production. Silk is produced from silkworms that feed on mulberry trees. A silk industry depends on sufficient quantity and quality of mulberry leaves. The Kenyan government is distributing silkworm eggs and mulberry seedlings, the foundation of a silk industry. It takes about 1000 mulberry trees to produce 40,000 silkworm cocoons.
The government is also sponsoring research to manage pests and diseases of mulberries and to provide silkworms that are well adapted to the climate.
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