Battered by erratic weather patterns coupled with decreasing and delayed rainfall, hundreds of farmers in Kiptororo ward in Kuresoi North Sub-County in Nakuru County are switching to beekeeping as an alternative source of livelihood that is less vulnerable to climate change.
Chief Officer for Cooperatives and Entrepreneurship Richard Kurgat said the County Government had crafted public-private partnerships to train beekeepers in the devolved unit on modern honey production methods, value addition and proper agronomical practices that are enabling farmers to yield honey products that comply with the accepted chemical residue level limits.
Kurgat, who spoke during the inaugural Annual General Meeting of the Ndoinet Bee Keepers Farmers’ Cooperative Society held in Nakuru, underscored the importance of bee farming in promoting biodiversity and food security and urged the society’s members to maintain a healthy ecosystem that supports sustainable agriculture.
Ndoinet Bee Keepers Farmers’ Cooperative Society is an umbrella body that brings together over 200 beekeepers from Chematich, Kapkembu, Kiptororo, and Tirigoi locations who are actively engaged in apiculture and value addition for commercial purposes.
The Chief Officer also advised the beekeepers to tap into the resources and programmes put in place by the County Government to strengthen cooperatives and micro and small enterprises in Nakuru County.
He announced that the Nakuru County Enterprise Fund was providing loans ranging from Sh 50,000 to Sh 200, 000 at an interest rate of 8 per cent per year, while the Cooperative Revolving Fund was issuing loans from Sh 200,000 to Sh 5 million at an interest rate of 6 percent per annum.
He further explained that the funds were designed to allow farmers, members of cooperative societies, and entrepreneurs previously excluded from the financial landscape to access capital and grow their businesses into commercially viable entities.
Kurgat indicated that the county government had been encouraging bee farmers to join cooperatives in order to keep at bay unscrupulous brokers and unlock the unexploited potential that could be realised from the sale of their products that include Honey, Wax, Pollen, Propolis, Royal Jelly, and Bee Venom.
Rhino Ark Charitable Trust, in collaboration with the National Beekeeping Institute, recently conducted a week-long training session for members of Ndoinet Bee Keepers Farmers’ Cooperative Society to enhance the beekeeping knowledge of the farmers, who live adjacent to the Mau Forest Complex, and to improve their practices.
The Ndoinet Beekeepers are also members of the Ndoinet Community Forest Association. Through efforts from both the Darwin Initiative and Rhino Ark, they have engaged in concerted efforts to conserve the Ndoinet Forest. One of their initiatives involves tree planting, supported by their tree nursery, which primarily grows indigenous trees alongside some exotic species for commercial purposes.
The Mau Forest has often been in the headlines for illegal activities and destruction. Many people have engaged in forest destruction over the years, which, according to Rhino Ark field officer Mr. Benard Kibet, was due to a lack of alternative sources of income.
“Through education and practical training, we’re fostering a new generation of beekeepers who are committed to environmental conservation,” Kibet said.
He said the Ndoinnet nursery initiative had a capacity of almost 100,000 seedlings but was currently at 20,000 in the first phase and aimed at helping the community manage the tree nursery independently in addition to increasing the seedlings.
Kibet added that some community members had been recruited into the Surveillance Unit, working closely with the Kenya Forest Service to ensure the conservation and revival of the Mau ecosystem.
He singled out drought, coupled with a decline in bee populations, deforestation and poor farming practices as key factors causing a decline in honey production in the county, adding that new pests and diseases and indiscriminate use of farm pesticides have hit bee colonies, making beekeeping a decidedly less sweet venture for farmers.
According to a report compiled by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), the country produces about 11,000 metric tonnes of honey and 1 to 3 tonnes of beeswax annually.
This, the report indicates, is about 20 per cent of Kenya’s potential and the low production is attributed to a lack of appropriate technologies, poor beekeeping practices, low uptake of improved technologies, poor policy guidelines and marketing skills.
A survey by the Kenya National Farmers Information Service indicates that about 80 per cent of Kenya’s honey comes from arid and semi-arid lands, with 80 per cent of this honey coming from log hives, which yield far too little to boost incomes.
By Esther Mwangi and Patience Moraa
