News

KENYA

Honey production decline

Rift Valley Province beekeeping officer, John Mwangi, said 2,010,000 litres of honey was produced in 2006 compared to 2,023,481 harvested in 2005. He said that production peaked in 2003 at 2,250,000 litres of honey, but since then it has been on the decline: “The downward trend is set to continue because bees are lacking sources of nectar. Though demand for local honey had gone up, production was low, which has also pushed prices up”.

Mwangi said environmental destruction especially of forests was the major cause of the shortage of forage for bees. Land demarcation due to increasing population was also affecting beekeeping because people fear bee stings and are reluctant to accommodate hives near densely populated areas.

“The leading honey producing areas are thearid and semi-arid regions because they are sparsely populated and with less human effect on the environment”, he said. The areas include Baringo, Laikipia, West Pokot, Samburu, Transzoia and Narok. The cost of materials for the construction of hives also discouraged the farmers.

Source: Beatrice Obwocha, East African

Standard, Nairobi

NEPAL

Nepal's Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) is to launch a programme to monitor pesticide residues in food items. According to The Himalayan Times the programme includes the development of techniques to monitor the use of pesticides while producing food items for export, and monitoring production mechanisms.

“The EU rejected exported Nepali tea and honey recently, stating that they contained high pesticide residues”, said Nava Raj Dahal, a food researcher at the DFTQC. “Asa member of the World Trade Organization, we have obligations to fulfil to compete in the international market. The monitoring programme will help harmonise our products with the international standard and lower the risk of rejection”. This year DFTQC aims to make farmers aware of the issue of pesticide residues, said Dahal: “Previously, we had focused on making consumers aware of pesticide residue, but the root issue was not addressed”.

Source: Xinhua, July 2007

SWAZILAND

Guaranteed market for beekeepers

The international quality processing factory known as Eswatini Swazi Kitchen Honey (ESKH) is situated in Manzini. Project Manager John Burnett says they are working hard to develop the beekeeping industry in Swaziland, with the aim of bringing income to rural communities living in poverty. “We have made a commitment to beekeepers in Swaziland to provide an assured market for all the honey their bees produce, if it meets our quality standards. Our business must be sustainable in order for us to continue to meet this commitment. To break even in the first year, we are looking to buy 14 tonnes of honeycomb from local farmers. So far we have received only two tonnes, however, we are looking at expanding production in the near future, depending on the supply from farmers”, he said.

“The price for honey delivered to the factory gate is 15.5 (€1.6; US$2.2) per kg. The farm gate price for honey collected from rural communities is E14 (€1.5: US$2) per kg. The price difference reflects transport costs involved in collecting the honey. To put these figures in context, a farmer who has 30 hives can expect to receive E6,000 (€625; US$840) per harvest. With an average of three harvests per year, a beekeeper would make about E18,000 (€1,900; US$2,500)”, explained Burnett. “We are aware that beekeepers can sell 500 g jars of honey for E20 (€2.1: US$2.9), potentially making E40 (€4.2; US$5.8) from one kilogram - over double what we are offering. However, when they add up all the costs associated with this higher selling price, we are convinced that they can make more profit from selling their honey at a bulk price of E14 (€1.5; US$2) per kg”.

He explained that if farmer a pays E3 for a jar and E1.50 on a label and transport costs of E2 per jar, then they are paying 6.50 (€0.7; US$0.9) in overheads per jar, making it both difficult to make a profit or offer value to customers. “These expenses have not been factored in, in addition to the expenses of buckets, processing equipment as well as time and energy. Many farmers have told us that once they have processed their honey, they are not even able to sell it or if they do, it comes in small amounts over a long time. By selling to ESKH, beekeepers get an assured market, a fair price for their honey, and payment shortly after they have harvested. We hope that beekeepers will be able to exploit these advantages to invest in their businesses and support their families”, Burnett said.

The company has injected E1.6 million (€167,000; US$225,000) into the business, a grant from the African Development Foundation (ADF), which covers costs for transport, machinery for the factory, training for farmers as well as running and administrative costs. The company also received E500,000 (€52,000; US$70,000) from the Irish Missionary Development Fund, which was used to erect the factory structure and for staff training.

ESKH has 10 staff members, including Elizabeth Henwood, who is the factory manager. “As production grows, we plan to take on more women and our focus is on those who are from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds”, said Burnett. The factory has been fully operational since June 2007. ESKH is looking at supplying both local and export markets. “The market for honey in Swaziland is relatively small and unless we can export the honey overseas, we will be limited in the amount of income we can bring to rural communities. To export honey, we have to meet rigorous quality and hygiene requirements,” said Burnett.

All honey ESKH buys must meet these qualitystandards:

- Must be ripe

- Must be in the comb

- Must be harvested into sealed ESKH 20 litre buckets

- Must be clean, without bees, grass or dirt

- Must come from hives that do not have creosote coating

- Must come from beekeepers who are registered as ESKH providers.

Centres in rural areas

“We need to ensure our business is as efficient and easily accessible as possible. We are setting up bulking centres in the rural communities, which are supplying ESKH. These centres are managed and controlled by representatives in the communities who report to ESKH when there is enough honey to justify a collection”, Burnett explained. The representatives weigh the honey so that when ESKH comes to collect, they can bring cheques made out to the beekeepers for the right amount. Payment will only be made after extension officers have done quality and weight checks. The centres are also used to store empty 20 litre buckets so that registered ESKH suppliers can collect buckets when they are ready to harvest.

Free training

John Burnett said a comprehensive feasibility study had shown that Swaziland imparts a large share of its honey and that the beekeeping industry is underdeveloped. “ESKH has committed to spend 300,000 (€31,200; US$42,000) on training over the next two years to help beekeepers improve their skills and increase their yields and profits”, he said.

Source. articles by Nomile Hlatshwayo at WWW. LIMES. CO.SZ

ZIMBABWE

Kutsungirira is the Shona word for ‘perseverance in difficult times’. Kutsungirira Beekeeping Club (KBC) is in Mwenezi District and was founded in 1997 by Michael Hlungwani and Miriro Muhera, together with eight neighbours from Shazhaume village. The aim of KBC is to train rural farmers as beekeepers, to create optimal conditions for beekeeping, and to generate income from the sale of honey and bee products, all on an Environmentally-friendly basis. Mwenezi District is hot and dry, causing most agricultural harvests to fail. Fortunately, there are many indigenous trees and shrubs that flower even with little rain and are therefore attractive to bees.

Shop

In 2004, KBC members built their own shop, where they sell their bee products and beekeeping equipment. The shop, situated 40 km from Shazhaume, is easily visible and accessible along the road between South Africa and the towns of Masvingo and Harare. Visiting tourists and long-distance travellers are interested in the origin of the products. KBC therefore hopes to add an information centre to the site. The classroom block and kitchen are already built. A hostel for 20 participants and a beekeeping museum will be next, with a tree nursery and orchard planned.

Ellen Michaelis and Michael Hlungwani

THAILAND

AAA Workshop

The workshop was held 28-30 June 2007 at Mahasarakham University with the theme Honey bee biology: bee breeding, queen rearing and instrumental insemination. It aimed to propagate the merits of beekeeping for rural development and sufficiency economy in Thailand. Prof Dr Siriwat Wongsiri, President of AAA, was the meeting organiser and opened the workshop. 28 experts from Australia, China, France, India, Saudi Arabia and Thailand made presentations. Over 60 people attended the workshop and enjoyed the excursion on the final day.

Chen Lihong