AND
DEVELOPMENT
WEST AFRICAN BEE RESEARCH SEMINAR
RST
THE WEST AFRICAN BEEKEEPING RESEARCH SEMINAR INTHE
GAMBIA
FROM 23"-" NOVEMBER
(2) AT THE FRIENDSHIP
HOSTEL BAKAU HOSTED
BY
A.B.E
eee West African beekeeping development stepped forward in November when the first regional Seminar took place in The Gambia. 59 people participated: for most it was their first opportunity to meet colleagues from neighbouring countries.
Background This Seminar arose out of discussions held at the Nairobi (1984) and Cairo (1988) IBRA Conferences on Apiculture in Tropical Climates. Within The Gambia, the Seminar was organised by AFET, the Association of Farmers, Educators and Traders. AFET is an NGO formed to link and assist Gambian groups and co-operatives, locally known as kaffos. AFET membership is 9300, of whom 70% are rural women.
Seminar The Seminar gets underway Delegates discuss lop-bar techniques
Delegates find some shade
under which
to
discuss the village beekeeping project
The six-day Seminar had been planned with thought towards the most useful way of encouraging effective discussion. Field trips on the first two days allowed everyone to meet: we visited projects, some already existing with various degrees of success, others still being planned We saw traditional hives, movable-frame hives, top-bar hives,
and also termite-eaten hives. We visited village blacksmiths making smokers, tailors making overalls, and hive-makers. Delegates from the other West African countries compared The Gambian beekeeping situation with their own. This fuelled further debate during the discussion groups and presentations held throughout the rest of the week
People of a wide range of expertise participated in the Seminar Some were beginner beekeepers who wanted basic technical information, others were experienced in practising and teaching beekeeping. Participants represented government extension and research, those working on aid-funded projects, and individual beekeepers. There was considerable enthusiasm: everyone was anxious to obtain as much information as possible from the Seminar.
Potential Papers discussing existing practices and the potential for beekeeping in West Africa were presented: these will be published in the Proceedings of the Seminar. Traditional beekeeping is widely practised but there exists relatively little documented material on this, or on the behaviour and biology of the native honey bee Apis mellifera adansonii. It is difficult to compare the extent and importance of traditional beekeeping in each of the West African countries. Those in which beekeeping is currently being promoted to the greatest extent include Ghana, GuineaBissau, Mali and Senegal.
Outcome Everyone agreed that West African beekeepers could benefit from greater cooperation. It was decided to form the Seminar’s conclusions into a written statement: The Banjul Bee Declaration, 1991. Three important Resolutions included in this Declaration are: 1. To form a committee to co-ordinate future regional beekeeping activities. After democratic election, six members were duly elected. These are:
Benin:
Cameroon: Ghana:
Mali: Nigeria. The Gambia:
Senou Jean Kokoye Shu Numfor Godlove Samuel Oppong Mahamadou Dicko John Dada
Dodou Darbo
2. To establish a regional beekeeping centre. The proposed centre should offer training, research and documentation
facilities.
3. To hold the second West African Bee Research Seminar in Ghana, in 1993.
Details of the full Proceedings of this first Seminar will be given in Beekeeping and Development when they are published.
FOUR
