There is high demand for honey in Kenya and farmers in the semi-arid areas have been advised to take advantage and embrace beekeeping to make money.
The Nakuru County Executive Officer for Agriculture Dr. Immaculate Maina said local farmers have not exploited the lucrative honey production activities and instead of being producers, a number of them were sourcing for it from the East African Countries and adulterating it in order to make profits.
However, she said there was no need for resorting to importation since the local climate was conducive for honey production and the market was very receptive to high-quality honey.
In an interview with KNA, Maina said beekeeping was part of climate-smart livelihood improvement for farmers, especially for those areas that are drought-prone such as Solai areas.
She noted that a single beehive can produce as much income as the yield from five acres of farming land at semi-arid areas, and when done professionally the fear for losses was nil.
The county executive also said honey harvesting was assured and it is a prime factor of climate change mitigation that the county was promoting, to ensure that families were cushioned from other crop losses.
Additionally, she said honey was a non-perishable foodstuff, which makes it easy to store and transport to markets far and wide.
Dr. Maina noted that support for beekeeping was available through the National Agricultural Rural Inclusive and Growth Project (NARIGP) program and urged as many farmers as possible to take up the lucrative trade, because the value of honey has remained high since time immemorial.
By Veronica Bosibori
