The world’s largest commercial fly farm, which will harvest maggots from about 8.5 billion of the insects housed in giant cages, is under construction near Cape Town, a project developers say is a first step toward shaking up the global animal-feed market.

The 8,500 square-meter (91,493 square-foot) undercover facility, being built by Gibraltar-basedAgriProtein, is due to be completed next year and aims to produce 23.5 metric tons of insect-based protein meal and oils and 50 tons of fertilizer a day. Fish and chicken farmers have already signed contracts to buy the feed, an alternative to soy and fishmeal, according to Jason Drew, the company’s co-founder.

“The farm will take in 110 tons of organic waste, out-of date-food, uneaten food from restaurants, hotels, some animal manure and some abattoir waste” and recycle the nutrients, Drew said in a July 8 phone interview from Cape Town. “We copied the idea from Mother Nature. In 15 years, it will be as normal to recycle your waste nutrients as it is to recycle your tin, your glass or your plastic today.”