Apiculture and poverty alleviation in Cameron - Part 1

Emmanuel O Nuesiri and Eunice E Fombad

FAO trade statistics show that Cameroon imports annually honey worth US$700,000 (€540,000). This does not reflect the amount of honey that is produced and consumed locally. Local communities in Cameroon have always harvested honey from the wild and many still do so. Honey is consumed as a beverage and is used in the preparation of many traditional medicines. This article highlights the role of beekeeping in biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation in Cameroon.

Bio-geographical profile of Cameroon

Cameroon is in Central Africa and has a population of about 16 million, with a growth rate of about 3%. 70% of the population lives in rural areas and about 40% of the entire population lives below the poverty line of US$1 (€0.8) per day. Cameroon is endowed with diverse natural resources including forest and crude oil, yet tt is a highly indebted country undergoing economic structural adjustments proposed by the World Bank and the IMF. Forestry contributes about 20% to Cameroon's export revenue, second to crude oil. The 20 million hectares of dense tropical forest, which forms part of the Congo Basin, is of global conservation significance, having the highest number of plants per unit area in the region, and with the second highest mammal and bird species counts.

Forest and poverty

Over 50% of Cameroonians depend on the forest directly or indirectly for livelihoods: this is due to the rural bias in its population structure with 70% of people dwelling in rural areas. The major occupations of rural citizens are overwhelmingly farming, hunting, gathering of non-timber forest products (NTFP) and animal husbandry (MINEFI, 2002). The forest is home to endemic species, many of which are endangered, including the Mount Cameroon francolin Francolinus camerunensis, the African forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis, and highly valued timber species including 'Azobe' Lophira alata. Due to its fertile, volcanic soils the region has experienced significant habitat loss and fragmentation as a result of subsistence and commercial farming: this in turn has led to loss of biodiversity (Ndam et al, 2000).

While the people of Cameroon have always depended on forest resources for livelihoods, there has been a sharp increase in the rate of dependency since the late 1980s. This is directly related to the severe economic downturn the country experienced from 1985-1995. There was a large-scale return to the land and forest for survival by many unemployed persons. Thus forest regions of high conservation value such as the Cameroon highlands are today facing ever increasing human pressure from farming, hunting, gathering of NTFPs and timber exploitation (Sikod et al, 2000). Given the centrality of the forest to local livelihoods, the sector has a significant role to play in poverty alleviation. It is in this regard that donors and conservation organisations vigorously promote the adoption of non-destructive forest use such as apiculture (Birdlife 2003; Vabi & Gartlan, 1997).

Apiculture and poverty alleviation

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is a key objective in Cameroon's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) submitted to the World Bank and the IMF (GoC, 2003). Ensuring that SFM in Cameroon conserves biodiversity while alleviating poverty has been a great challenge for the government, donors and the many conservation NGOs in the country. A strategy adopted by international conservation NGOs has been the promotion of alternative income generating activities considered as ‘biodiversity friendly’ including apiculture, mushroom farming and wildlife domestication. The most successful in terms of uptake has been apiculture. Across the national territory there are now a plethora of local organisations actively involved in apiculture and while collection and sale of honey from the forest is an age-old practice in Cameroon, there has been a steady increase in consumption of honey and other bee products. Organisations that have been at the forefront of these initiatives include the Department for International Development (DFID) UK, German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), Birdlife International, UK and Bees Abroad, UK.

These organisations succeeded in convincing local communities, that an intensive and structured approach is more profitable. Today, apiculture is yielding substantial benefits for successful local groups such as the Apicultural and Nature Conservation Organisation (ANCQ) Bamenda, and Beekeeping, Development and Conservation (BDC) Limbé. These two are at the forefront of apicultural initiatives in the Cameroon Highlands region. However the significance of this development is seemingly unnoticed by the Government and some key conservation actors in Cameroon. A recent publication by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) on forest products, livelihoods and conservation in Africa, and their contribution to rural poverty alleviation, totally omits apiculture (Sunderland & Ndoye, 2004). We wish to draw the attention of the global apicultural community to this development in Cameroon. The results of our study will be presented in the next edition of BfDJ

The traditional honey harvesting method used in local forest communities such as the Cameroon Highlands, involved setting up bushfires to get rid of the bees before extracting honey from the combs. This was destructive as often the fires went out of control and caused significant habitat destruction. Conservation projects introduced hand held smokers and other equipment that has made honey harvesting easier and non-destructive. Communities have been taught how to construct hives and where to place them on their farms and forest lands for bee colonisation and optimal honey production. Evidence for the success of these initiatives is provided by the existence of profitable beekeeping co-operatives and groups in the Cameroon Highlands eco-region.

Emmanuel Nuesiri (author for correspondence) is a doctoral student and Clarendon scholar at the Oxford University Centre for the Environment, UK.

Eunice Fombad is ecological research officer with Forest, Resources and People, a conservation and development NGO based in Limbé, SWP Cameroon