Interview with Rahi Honey

Janet Lowore from Bees for Development interviewed Rahel Tamrat when they met in Addis Ababa in February 2014

JL: How did you first become involved in honey trade?

RT: I was the Chairperson of a small organisation near Addis Ababa which helped disadvantaged women and children – especially children not going to school. We started by helping with education, health and addressing harmful traditional practices. We then realised that women needed a source of reliable income above all else – this was important for sustainability. So we helped a group of women start small businesses which included poultry keeping, small trading and beekeeping. The women could choose which business option they preferred.

The newly made hives are easy to transport

PHOTOS © TILAHUN GEBEY

JL: Were these businesses successful?

RT: The poultry businesses did not succeed. The hens needed a lot of looking after and the feed was expensive. Small trading was moderately successful, but beekeeping was very successful. We soon realised that the beekeeping businesses needed a marketing aspect and I stepped in and bought the honey and sold it for the women. The beekeeping side of things grew until 400 women were involved. All the time I was selling their honey. So I decided I could expand further and go into the honey business full-time.

JL: What was your next step?

RT: I already had some land in Adama, which is 100 km from Addis Ababa. I got a business licence and built a honey processing facility. Then I went to Jimma and liaised with local government offices and with help from SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation) I identified farmers to supply me with honey. I also established my own apiary.

JL: Where do you sell?

RT: I sell in bulk to Sudan and countries in the Middle East. My next idea is to pack and sell in supermarkets in Addis Ababa. In the future I would like to export to Europe and the USA.

JL: How many beekeepers do you work with, and how were they selected?

RT: I have 400 suppliers and they were chosen according to a number of criteria. They had to have bees already, be willing to participate in the capacity building programme, and be willing to sell to Rahi Honey. It was important that a number were women beekeepers. I know all my suppliers. This is important for traceability. They have been helped with training, extraction equipment, loans – and they also share resources. We negotiate the price each year and over time we have built a good relationship. There is no need to have a formal contract with my beekeepers – after all they could simply tell me the harvest was poor and sell elsewhere and side-step the agreement. At the end of the day it is essential that we have a strong working relationship based on trust.

Using locally available materials to construct top-bar hives

JL: What is your volume turnover?

RT: Each year I buy and sell eight to ten tonnes.

JL: What are your plans concerning markets?

RT: Distant exports have lower prices and yet demand high volume. Local prices are high and I can deal in smaller volumes which is why I have started with local markets. Ethiopians are not used to buying table honey packed in jars from supermarkets and they do not always trust the product. This is now changing. Eventually I would like to expand my market reach.

JL: How many of your new farmers are women?

RT: About 15%. Some of these are single women, or other women come to the training who are more interested in beekeeping than their husbands. However it is usually men who come to the training. They say that their wives have many duties at home and cannot come. However, usually both men and women take care of bees because women are at home and can take care of bees near the house.

JL: What sort of training do you provide?

RT: We offer training about harvesting and post-harvest handling. We also teach people how to make top-bar hives using local materials and teach about the importance of beeswax and how to process it. We train how to separate honey and beeswax at home. Safe and good honey harvesting without harming the bees is also part of the programme.

JL: What sort of hives do you promote?

RT: I buy and sell beeswax as well as honey. Beeswax is in high demand and sells for a high price. For this reason I promote local style hives and top-bar hives because beekeepers can harvest a lot of wax.

JL: Have you had problems?

RT: As a mother of three I sometimes find it hard to run my honey business and meet my family commitments. Another problem I faced was getting a loan to get started. In fact one bank I went to tried to discourage me from honey and suggested I invested in wheat-milling instead. Also beekeepers are increasing their prices instead of increasing their supply and this makes my business harder.

JL: How do you encourage beekeepers to increase the supply?

RT: I train farmers to focus on yield and not on price per kg. If they concentrate on increasing supply they will end up by earning more income. Some understand this and have increased their number of colonies. I offered a reward to the beekeeper who made the most hives: one made six in two days and I gave a prize of protective clothing.

JL: What other strategies do you employ to secure adequate supply?

RT: I have my own apiary of 70 colonies. This gives me a regular supply of honey and helps smooth my supply volumes between times when farmers are not harvesting. I have learnt that as a honey trader it is more important to have your own apiary to augment bought-in supplies than to invest in processing equipment. The scale at which I am operating means that I process honey only on a few days each year, and the rest of the time the equipment lies idle. I have learnt that I could have paid a fee to other honey processors to process my honey for me, that would have been more cost effective. In fact I was careful when I equipped my honey factory. I did not import a full-scale processing plant because I learnt that some companies did this and ended up using only a few parts of it. I bought two honey filters from China and some stainless steel tanks made to my specification in Ethiopia. That is all I need.

JL: Are you looking elsewhere for honey?

RT: I have made some enquiries with a honey co-operative in Amhara and I may buy small volumes from them. I do not know the farmers individually so I am not so sure about the quality. I have to trust the co-operative. I do not wish to start buying honey from places where other buyers are already active. If there are other honey supply areas where honey is cheap I might be interested to buy.

JL: How do you manage to maintain the quality?

RT: Firstly I use only my own containers. I give them to my farmers just before harvest and they use them to bring me their honey. I test the moisture content of the honey and if it is ok I buy it. After purchasing I get honey samples analysed against the honey standard and for contamination. If I ever have a problem I can trace it back to where it came from. Then I would challenge the person who sold me that honey. Actually I have never had a problem as all the honey has been good. Part of the training is about honey quality and the importance of producers to take responsibility for the quality of their honey. They understand.

JL: What about the original women you worked with?

RT: They are still producing honey and doing well. They are semi-urban and lack a lot of space to expand their numbers of colonies; however they have become self-reliant because of their beekeeping.

JL: What are your general comments about women and beekeeping?

RT: Some women lack confidence: they are not used to being encouraged to develop their own activities and their own skills. When we encourage them they can really change and become confident. Not all men are the same, some fear that if their wives develop their own activities they will neglect them. Others are very supportive. We try and involve men and women in beekeeping. Men need to understand that if their wives are given the chance they can become successful and help the family as a whole. Men who understand this will encourage their wives. One woman we trained has become an exceptional beekeeper and helps others. Even though she struggles with reading and writing she is a beekeeper of high standard. If you can change the attitude of women to become confident and self-reliant – you can change the world!

It is possible to harvest high volumes of beeswax from local style hives such as these in Jimma, Ethiopia

PHOTO © BfD