Lira beekeepers’ association in move to attract more investment
Beehives in a farm. Beekeeping has a lot of potential to improve livelihoods and, as a result, the activity is attracting more investors to the sector. PHOTO BY BRIAN SSENOGA
Alfonso Omara, 56, of Awangdyang village in Adeko Kwok Sub-county, Lira District, harvests 1,000 kilogrammes of honey on average out of 98 bee hives.
A retired civil servant, Omara started keeping bees for home consumption in 2003; that was until 2012, when he went commercial. It was a challenging business in terms of management of the apiary and marketing of honey.
“I had passion for the bees and a little traditional knowledge on how to keep them,” he explains. “But I lacked technical skills, and this affected my production levels. I got frustrated and nearly gave up. I did not understand the advantage of working with other beekeepers to share knowledge and experiences.”
Primary targets
To the rescue of Omara and other beekeepers in a similar situation in Lira Gola Kic (translates as Gateway to Beekeeping), a local community based organisation, was established to offer free services to beekeepers.
The objective was to promote apiculture as a source of livelihood and it is mainly targeting women, youth and school-going children.
Ms Lorine Achiro, the Gola Kic project coordinator, points out that the organisation does not buy honey from farmers but, in addition to continuous trainings and exposure visits, “farmers are encouraged to form groups and have one collection centre that we call a hub and then they are linked to a buyer.”
She adds, “The buyer pays cash. We are demystifying the perception that there is no market for honey. Also the practice of keeping bees should be taken to schools and inculcated in the syllabus.”
There are now six hubs each involving from 15 to 50 members. Each hub represents a sub county.
For instance, while the Boroboro hub in Adeko Kwok Sub-county has 43 members, Telela hub in Ngeta Sub-county has 100 farmers some of whom have started processing. The latter are adding value to produce honey wine and wax cosmetics, according to Tom Anyii Okello, the hub manager who is also a beekeeper.
“The trainings are conducted at the apiary and the sessions are practical. They use the beekeeper-to-beekeeper knowledge extension model. If it is harvesting of honey, for example,the trainers from Gola Kic will do it practically at one of our members’ apiary and others will learn. This promotes unity among farmers, ensures quality and increased production and group marketing of hive products,” explains Anyii.
Boost the sector
This has attracted more investors in the honey value chain to Lira District, including Aryodi Bee Farm, Gates Honey and, most recently, Green and White—all aiming at boosting the honey sector in the region.
Bosco Okello, the managing director of Green and White, notes that despite the potential to produce large volumes of hive products, most people in northern Uganda are hobby beekeepers, are not united and lack the technical skills required to benefit from the trade.
“One can only work with farmers and promote the apiculture industry when the practitioners are united by a common goal under one umbrella, hence the partnership with them through Gola Kic,” he explains.
“We target those who are willing to add on their skills. The specific focus is on those already in business but have certain issues which they need to be addressed.”
In addition to buying honey and other hive products, Green and White seeks to buy at least 10 tonnes of honey from Lira District alone.
They have set up a showroom there as a demonstration for available technologies for beekeeping, value addition, packaging and branding.
However, investors still have to grapple with issues, that are still abound in the sector. These include the low adoption rate, where women and youth are still reluctant to take the activity, poor harvesting of honey by use of rudimentary methods and the low production rate despite the escalating demand.
The various reasons why beekeeping is important
Beekeeping is the science and art of keeping bees using best practices. Beekeeping is very important, for the production of honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen (bee bread), royal jelly and bee venom; for food, medicine and income. Beekeeping is also important for pollination and recreational activities.
There are various reasons for keeping bees. These include:
Cultural purposes: Honey is used for beverage brewing and occasionally served at important cultural ceremonies such as weddings. It is also served to very important guests as sign of high regard. In some African cultures, honey is also used to pay dowry.
As source of food: Honey is an important food for many people in Uganda. It is consumed whole or mixed with other foods as supplement. Among the Langi and Acholi, honey is mixed with simsim and groundnut paste. Bee brood (larvae and pupae) have high nutritional value and are fed to malnourished children. Royal jelly and pollen are consumed for their high protein value.
As source of medicine: Bee products such as bee venom, honey and propolis are used for treatment of many conditions following the antibiotic nature of the products. The conditions/diseases treated using bee products include stomach upsets, diarrhea, wounds, burns, cough, measles, toothaches and fungal infections. It also helps to boost the immunity of people living with HIV/AIDS.
For income generation: The honeybee products can be marketed locally or abroad to get money, with or without value addition. Beekeeping industry also provides incomes to various stakeholders in the value chain. These include bee farmers, artisans, pharmaceutical industry, food, beverage industry, honey dealers, among others.
Pollination: The honey bees provide pollination services, thereby playing a vital role in food production and overall agricultural productivity. Over 75 per cent of all the crops in Sub-Saharan Africa benefit from pollination. More bees means better pollination and high yields. In other countries, pollination by bees is hired and fetches additional money to the beekeeper.
Conservation of natural resources: Beekeeping is a non-destructive activity that could be employed in the conservation of biodiversity in protected areas. Households living adjacent to these areas can support the conservation efforts of these resources by establishing apiaries within or at the boundary of these protected areas.
THE NATIONAL BEEKEEPING TRAINING AND EXTENSION MANUAL, MAAIF
