Tanzania: Sweet Success of Keeping Bees in Mara Region..

THE beekeeping industry in the country is underperforming despite the fact that the industry can play a big role in social-economic gains and environmental conservation.
It is a source of food, a raw material for candles, medicine and provides an income for beekeepers and other stakeholders in general.

Its high turnover coupled with the small start-up capital needs propelled Singita Grumeti Reserves (SGR) to embark on a beekeeping project to empower communities in Serengeti district, Mara region.

SGR has distributed over 350 bee hives to beekeeping projects in communities in the district and is already gaining momentum. Community Outreach Programme Coordinator Mr Richard Ndaskoi said beekeeping is a lucrative business. He was briefing the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, who was in the region to see community development projects being implemented by SGR.

He explained that honey sells like hot cakes with one litre of honey going for 10,000/- . Many customers are guests at the lodges. He said training on bee keeping education is provided at an institute established in the area that takes in secondary students on weekly short courses on environment and conservation. In the classroom students are taught conservation of the environment.

There is a small modern beehive made of wood and glass and full of bees, for practical beekeeping lessons. "Villagers have ready markets from visitors who are willing to buy the honey for 10,000/- per litre. The project helps conserve the environment with the doing away of bushfires, which are not only a threat to the environment, but also to wild animals. Villagers no longer set bushfire because of fear of burning the beehives," he explained.

He said beekeeping project is expanding rapidly among communities in the district, making it popular because of being a source of income, that does not need a lot of start up capital. The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, stressed that beekeeping business venture has not been taken seriously by majority of the population, despite the fact that it does not require a huge start-up capital.

Ambassador Kagasheki agreed that his ministry has not put a lot of effort in promoting bee keeping even though it is easy to start and operate, and the huge market for honey available within and outside the country. "The Prime Minister is also in the beekeeping business and he has put a lot of effort in promoting the industry, but I must confess, we still have a lot to do, to ensure the public really understand that it is the easiest and cheapest business venture to establish, which has huge returns," he explained.