Strengthening trade in honey and other bee products in Uganda · 2016-11-01 · Strengthening trade in honey and other bee products: assessment report Page 5 The assessment was carried

Bees for Development

ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS AND CAPACITY

OF HONEY PACKERS AND BEEKEEPERS IN UGANDA

The report of a survey undertaken

by

The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation (TUNADO)

Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB)

Bees for Development

as part of the Comic Relief –funded project

Strengthening trade in honey and other bee products in

Uganda

August 2007

Strengthening trade in honey and bee products: assessment report Page 1

SUMMARY

This report documents an assessment of the status and capacity of beekeepers and honey packers in

Uganda, undertaken as part of the Project Strengthening trade in honey and other bee products in

Uganda. This 18-month pilot Project is funded by Comic Relief (United Kingdom) and jointly

implemented by Bees for Development, Uganda Export Promotion Board and The Uganda

Apiculture Development Organisation. The assessment was conducted by the Project

implementation team in April to July 2007. A number of field trips were undertaken to meet with

industry actors in 20 districts of Uganda. The main objectives were to select target participants for

the Project and to gain insight into the capacity building needs of the sector in order to guide project

implementation.

The assessment was successfully completed and this report documents the findings from interviews

with over 50 stakeholders. A considerable wealth of information has been collected about the

activities, successes and challenges faced by different participants in the Uganda honey trade.

The assessment revealed the status of development of many beekeeping groups and honey packing

businesses. Of these, some exist in little more than name; have no grassroots support and poorly

developed structures. Others are successful honey producing and trading businesses making a profit

and contributing to the development of the sector as a whole. Based against a set of agreed criteria,

the objective of selection of target participants was met. Seven groups/businesses were identified as

follows: Amuria Apiaries, Ongica Beekeepers Association, Nature Products Uganda Ltd,

Nakasongola Beekeepers Association, Bee Natural Products Ltd, Nebbi Beekeepers Association

and Kamwenge Beekeepers Cooperative and Savings Organisation.

The exercise also revealed a number of insights into the industry as a whole and the main

challenges faced by stakeholders. A major finding was the very poor development of the supply

chain. Honey buyers often claim that the main constraint in the industry and for their business is

low honey production. However, the findings from this assessment revealed that this interpretation

is an oversimplification of more complex problems. Buyers suffer from low supply, which is not

always caused by low production by beekeepers, but instead is caused by factors such as inadequate

organisation among beekeepers, which means they do not market collectively. This creates supply

problems for buyers. Relationships between buyers and beekeepers are not well developed and

remain opportunistic, even for the well-established, more formal buyers. Buyers often lack

adequate finance, which means they cannot buy all the honey they need when it is available. This is

discouraging for beekeepers.

Another reason for low production is a low incentive to produce, rather than an inadequate means to

produce. This is an important distinction because while the latter may be apparently solved by the

provision of equipment, the former and real problem is not solved by the provision of equipment.

The low incentive to produce is caused by beekeepers not approaching honey production as a

business, production profits being slashed by the introdu ction of expensive equipment, and low

satisfaction when it comes to selling honey. Beekeepers are often uncertain of how, to whom and at

what price they should sell honey. This creates uncertainty that in turn depresses the incentive to

invest in increased production.

These insights are important and help support the Project implementation approach that is based on

building the capacity of producers and buyers to do business and trade profitably. Many of the

lessons that the Project has drawn from the assessment are relevant to other stakeholders working to

support and strengthen honey trade in Uganda.

Strengthening trade in honey and other bee products: assessment report Page 2

CONTENTS

Summary ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 1

1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.2 Aims and objectives ............................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.2.1 Specific objectives .................................................................................................................................................. 4

1.3 Justification ............................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.4 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4

2 FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

2.1 PRODUCER ASSOCIATIONS ................................................................................................................................................ 6

2.1.1 Kehosa apiculture development association (Kada), busia district .................................................. 6

2.1.2 Bugwe Apiculture Development Association (Bada), Busia District ................................................ 6

2.1.3 Elgon War Veterans Association, Sironko District ................................................................................... 6

2.1.4 Ongica Beekeepers Association, (OBA), Lira District .............................................................................. 7

2.1.5 Atego Widows and Orphans Care (AWOC), Lira District ....................................................................... 8

2.1.6 Agoro Dang Twero (ADT), Lira District ........................................................................................................ 9

2.1.7 Moyo Beekeepers Association (MBKA), Moyo District ........................................................................ 10

2.1.8 Nebbi Beekeepers Association, Nebbi District ........................................................................................ 11

2.1.9 Yumbe District Farmers’ Association, Yumbe District ......................................................................... 12

2.1.10 Hoima District Farmers Association (HDFA), Hoima District .......................................................... 12

2.1.11 Busiriba Beekeeping and Pineapple Group, Kamwenge District .................................................... 13

2.1.12 Ngoma Uweso Beekeeping Association, Nakaseke District ............................................................... 14

2.1.13 Kiruhura District Beekeeping Activities, ................................................................................................... 14

2.1.14 Kazo Apiculture Development Centre ........................................................................................................ 15

2.1.15 Kaaro Cooperatives Savings and Credit Society (KCSCS) ................................................................... 15

2.1.16 Budongo Forest Community Development ORGANISATION (BUCODO), Masindi District. . 16

2.1.17 Sihubira Farmer’s ORGANISATION (SFO), Busia District ................................................................... 17

2.1.18 Mount Elgon Beekeeping Community (MEBKC), Sironko District ................................................. 18

2.1.19 Bulmezi Beekeepers Association (BBA) LUWERO District ................................................................ 19

2.2 PACKERS ................................................................................................................................................................................. 19

2.2.1 Soroti District Farmers’ Association (SODIFA) ....................................................................................... 19

2.2.2 Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organisation (SOCADIDO) ........................... 21

2.2.3 Soroti Environment Concerns (SEC), Soroti District ............................................................................ 23

2.2.4 RECO Industries (U) LTD, Kasese District................................................................................................. 24

2.2.5 Malaika Honey Ltd / Hives Save Lives, Kampala District ................................................................... 25

2.2.6 Nature Products Uganda Ltd, WAKISO DISTRICT ................................................................................. 26

2.2.7 East West Innovations Ltd, KAMPALA DISTRICT .................................................................................. 27

2.2.8 Katikamu BKA / Chijoyce Beekeepers Ltd, Luwero District ............................................................. 28

2.2.9 Amuria Apiaries (U) Ltd, Amuria District ................................................................................................. 28

2.2.10 Bee Natural Products (U) Ltd, ARUA DISTRICT ..................................................................................... 29

2.2.11 Kamwenge Beekeepers Cooperatives Savings and Credit Society (KABECOS) ........................ 30

2.2.12 Connoisseur Honey Cooperative Society, Bushenyi District ............................................................. 31

2.2.13 Syda Bbumba Company Limited (SIBUCO), Nakaseke District ........................................................ 33

2.3 DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 33

2.3.1 The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV- UGANDA ......................................................... 33

2.4 TRAINING AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS ............................................................................................................. 34

2.4.1 Bunyoro District Farm Institute Bulindi/National Agriculture Research Organisation ....... 34

2.4.2 Nyabyeya Forestry Institute, Masindi District ........................................................................................ 34

2.4.3 Nakasongola Apiculture Training Centre .................................................................................................. 35

3 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................................... 36

3.1 Volume of bee products accessible to packers ........................................................................................................ 36

3.1.1 Supply chain development issues ................................................................................................................ 36

3.1.2 Growth of small scale packers ....................................................................................................................... 36


3.1.3 Lack of commercialization of honey production .................................................................................... 37

3.1.4 Honey bee colony management .................................................................................................................... 37

3.2 Product diversification ...................................................................................................................................................... 38

3.3 Processing and quality assurance................................................................................................................................. 38

3.4 Marketing of bee products ............................................................................................................................................... 39

3.5 Finance for beekeeping and honey trading .............................................................................................................. 39

3.6 Taxation policy on bee products ................................................................................................................................... 41

3.7 Attitude towards beekeeping as a business ............................................................................................................. 41

3.8 Technical expertise and support for beekeepers ................................................................................................... 41

3.9 Beekeeping associations – structures, roles and responsibilities. .................................................................. 42

4 Ten major lessons learnt for project implementation ......................................................................................... 43

5 Project target group selection ........................................................................................................................................ 44

5.1 Capacity needs of the target group .............................................................................................................................. 44

6 Recommendations for the wider Industry ................................................................................................................ 46

6.1 Taxation policies .................................................................................................................................................................. 46

6.2 Market development .......................................................................................................................................................... 46

6.3 Role of the apex body, TUNADO .................................................................................................................................... 46

Appendix 1: Assessment checklist for packers........................................................................................................... 47

Appendix 2: Assessment checklist for beekeeping associations ....................................................................... 48

Appendix 3: List of contact persons for the assessment process ..................................................................... 50

List of Tables

Table 1 SOCADIDO Honey Grades

Table 2 Price range of SOCADIDO honey

Table 3 SOCADIDO honey purchases

Table 4 Connoisseur Honey Cooperative Society honey prices

List of abbreviations and acronyms

BfD Bees for Development

BKA Beekeeping association

DA Demonstration apiary

DDSP District Development Strategic Programme

FSP Financial services provider

MAAIF Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries

NAADS The National Agriculture Advisory Services

NOGAMU The National Organic Movement of Uganda

ACCO Savings and credit cooperative society

TUNADO The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation

UEPB Uganda Export Promotion Board

UNBS Uganda National Bureau of Standards

UWA Uganda Wildlife Authority

VAT Value Added Tax


1 INTRODUCTION

Apiculture is one of the sectors being promoted by government to support income generation for the

rural communities in Uganda. Besides playing a key role in nature conservation, beekeeping

requires very little capital for start-up; requires little land and even non-fertile land; requires less

labour; and can easily be practiced by men, women, youth and people with disabilities alike. This

means that beekeeping provides an opportunity for many different members of the community to

use available natural resources to support their livelihoods.

1.1 BACKGROUND

The assessment was undertaken as part of the project Strengthening trade in honey and other bee

products in Uganda funded by Comic Relief (UK) and implemented jointly by Bees for

Development, Uganda Export Promotion Board and The Uganda Apiculture Development

Organisation.

This report of the assessment carried out in 20 districts of Uganda between April and July 2007, is

produced jointly by BfD, UEPB and TUNADO. In this process, the assessment team comprising of

staff from all three implementing organisations met 16 beekeepers’ associations, seven private

limited companies, four development organisations and one apiculture-training centre,

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The main aim of the assessment was to establish a framework for the selection of target areas for

the pilot phase of the project.

1.2.1 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• To generate information upon which the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the pilot

phase of the project will be based: in particular the selection of target participants

• To understand the level of success and failures of different interventions in the sector with a

view of applying lessons learnt to focus activities of the project

• To generate information that facilitates better networking and building synergies with other

actors in the sector

• To assess the specific constraints and bottlenecks relating to production, processing, and

marketing of bee products

• To identify capacity building needs of producer associations and packers in the sector

• To generate information upon which a larger project, anticipated in 2008, could be developed as

follow-on of the pilot phase.

• To identify the existing technologies, skills and knowledge associated with production,

processing and marketing of bee products.

1.3 JUSTIFICATION

The implementation of the 18-month pilot phase of the proposed 5-year project Strengthening trade

in honey and other bee products in Uganda, started in February 2007. For objectivity, the project

team needed to identify geographical areas in Uganda where the pilot phase would be implemented.

Against this background, the project team carried out an assessment countrywide to identify which

packers and producer associations were best suited, against a checklist of criteria, to benefit from

this early phase.

1.4 METHODOLOGY


The assessment was carried out by a team of six technical officers and one intern between 23 April

and 21 July 2007. The team developed a checklist of issues of importance to the project covering

the history of the organisations/respondents, the progress since formation, future plans, production

and trade statistics of honey and other bee products, the technologies used in beekeeping, their

markets, their marketing strategies, quality assurance systems, packaging requirements and other

logistical issues related to their beekeeping/honey businesses. The checklists used are found in

Appendix 1. Respondents were generated through three main ways:

• Databases

Information and contacts of some of the respondents were obtained from the databases of UEPB

and TUNADO. These respondents are either registered members and/or clients of the

organisations; some are key actors who had been involved in the activities of these organisations.

The list of subscribed members of TUNADO was very useful as details of these members could

easily be obtained. For UEPB on the other hand, contacts generated from the 2004/05 Apiculture

Export Strategy development process were instrumental.

• Micro-market survey

In April 2007, a micro-market survey was carried out in and around Kampala. Supermarkets and

major shops were visited and information was generated about the different brands of honey on the

shelves. The information generated included: prices, brand name, packaging materials and sizes

used, the supplier (packer) of the honey, the contact addresses of the packers, etc. In this case, the

project team contacted some of the major packers listed in the survey and they formed an important

cohort of respondents.

• Local governments: District NAADS coordinators and Entomology officers

In some cases, especially where little or nothing was known about apiculture, actors in the districts,

the district NAADS Coordinators and entomologists gave enormous support to the team by

providing both physical and telephone contacts of the respondents. This was the case in districts

where NAADS programmes are being implemented and where the districts had an entomology

officer. The project team travelled to the districts where there were contacts and information about

beekeeping and honey trade. The routes followed were:

April: Kampala, Luwero

May: Kampala, Wakiso

June: Soroti, Lira, Nebbi, Moyo, Yumbe, Arua, Hoima, Kabarole, Kamwenge, Kiruhura,

Bushenyi, Busia, Sironko, Amuria

July: Masindi, Nakasongola, Nakaseke

Every respondent was visited at their own facilities and photographs of their projects taken where

necessary. In all cases, the top management and/or technical staff represented the responding

packer or association. In case of development organisations, separate meetings were held with their

staff to discuss their activities in relation to beekeeping and honey trade.


2 FINDINGS

This chapter presents findings generated from responses and physical observations of the different

packers and producers’ associations assessed.

2.1 PRODUCER ASSOCIATIONS

2.1.1 KEHOSA APICULTURE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (KADA), BUSIA DISTRICT

This organisation was formed in 2000 with 26 members. They were motivated after receiving

training in beekeeping, and after realizing that farmers participating in beekeeping were making

some profits from the sale of honey. Twelve of the members were traditional beekeepers while the

rest began beekeeping as result of trainings. Membership expansion is underway through

sensitization and training in beekeeping. The group owns 52 hives of which 15 are top-bar, while

the rest are frame hives and local style hives. Honey is processed by individual farmers using

rudimentary methods, sold in soda bottles, and used mineral water bottles. It is sold to local

consumers who pay cash.

The group is faced by the following constraints

• Pests and predators attack the hives, and this is believed to be the reason for bees sometimes

absconding.

• High cost of equipment especially overalls and frame hives

• Inadequate knowledge and skills in apiary management.

• Poor perception of beekeeping as a worthwhile activity. Some individuals do not regard it as a

business, while others fear bee-stings.

Training needs

The group mentioned the following training needs:

• Training in apiary management especially in the use of frame hives.

• After harvest honey handling

• Making own beekeeping equipment

2.1.2 BUGWE APICULTURE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (BADA), BUSIA DISTRICT

The organisation is located near the Busitema forest reserve in Busia District. It started in 2003

with 32 members who were mobilised by sub-county leaders to undertake beekeeping as a

profitable enterprise. Seventeen of its members were traditional beekeepers while the rest adopted

it through training. The group has 16 log and woven hives, 80 top-bar, two frame hives. Of these

75% are colonised. There were no records of the amount of honey produced or sold, but scouting

buyers were reported to have expressed interest in buying honey from this association.

Constraints

• Lack of access to financial support

• Lack of skills in harvesting and processing

• Lack of protective gear and other equipment

• Unreliable promises by the would-be development partners

• Low commitment to beekeeping as some individuals do not regard it as a business, while others

fear bees and therefore do not embrace it.

Training needs

• Honey harvesting and hive management

2.1.3 ELGON WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION, SIRONKO DISTRICT


This organisation was started in 2001 by members composed of former soldiers to the National

Resistance Army (NRA). Their activities were sparked off by the promise made by the Commander

in Chief of the Army and President of the Republic of Uganda (H.E Y.K. Museveni) in 2000.

Following the promise, the members invested heavily, bought hives and situated them at an apiary

located on a piece of land belonging to one of them. The organisation has about 140 top bar and

woven hives of which only five are colonized.

Training needs

• Group formation, organisation and management

• Different aspects of beekeeping.

2.1.4 ONGICA BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION, (OBA), LIRA DISTRICT

OBA started in Adekokwok in 2003 with two members (Mr. Ayo, the Chairman and one other

member). There are 36 members now (majority are men), scattered in four sub-counties:

Adekokwok, Apala, Ogur and Bar – all in Lira district. Mr Ayo bought his own log hives to begin

the project at UGX5000 each.

Ayo indicated that he chose beekeeping as a potential business opportunity after comparing

production requirements and possible profits to other enterprises. In particular, he noted that

beekeeping:

• Requires very little land, therefore affordable

• Requires little capital investment – normally within his reach

• Does not necessarily need fertile land – even rocky places can support beekeeping whereas the

same land cannot support crop cultivation. Ayo owns land next to Ngetta hill that is rocky.

• Has low labour / time requirements compared to other enterprises

• Yields multiple products

A central Demonstration Apiary (DA) for the group is located on Mr Ayo’s farm, along with his

own individual apiary. The DA has 10 top-bar hives, 30 log hives, 3 frame hives, and 7 Johnson

hives1. The DA is well fenced with barbed wires and 40-50 metres away from the homestead.

DETREC, a local NGO has been providing training services to OBA for 3 years on various aspects

e.g. beekeeping techniques, harvesting methods, proposal writing, book keeping, etc.

They have no business plan – they would wish to have one but have done nothing yet about it.

Despite this, one observes a focused group because besides a constitution, they have strong

leadership that helps the group achieve its development plans.

The constitution, drawn in 2004 includes:

• Registration fees: UGX 2,500 for members to join.

• Membership fees: UGX 5,000 payable once for registered members.

• Annual subscription fees: UGX 15,000.

These funds must be paid by whoever wishes to join. However, they currently do not want any

more members, as higher numbers complicate management issues. Instead, they are offering to

support new groups to form, through training and giving organisational advice. As a condition for

membership, one must possess at least one colonized beehive and have an acre of sunflower

plantation. Each member has his or her own individual apiary.

1 'A fixed-comb hive box without bars, made out of planks of timber


Members harvest and bring their honey to a central location to be delivered to customers for sale.

Records are taken. Members then get their money after sales. To date, all their honey is sold in

combs in Lira town and among the community; they do not pack honey and neither do they sell to a

packer. They do not have any immediate plans to start packing as all honey so far produced has

been sold easily within 2-7 days after harvest. 1kg of comb honey goes for UGX 3,500, one of the

highest prices encountered in the assessment.

Mr. Ayo said that, “members have built iron-roofed houses from the honey money” and his newly

built house could be seen near the apiary of which be boasts. Mr Ayo bought two sets of harvesting

equipment and gear and these are shared by other members; the equipment is therefore inadequate.

The respondent was not able to show the team the production and sales records, as they were with

the secretary. He said that OBA would be willing to provide this information at any time they are

requested to. He gave some figures on outputs of the hives, that: one log hive gives up to 150 kg

comb honey per year (50kg per harvest x 3 harvests); one top-bar hive yields up to 90 kg honey

comb per year (30kg per harvest x 3 harvests). They had not harvested anything from the frame

hives that had only just been sited. OBA has started a saving scheme, where members make weekly

contributions. Members can borrow money from the savings account and pay back with 10%

interest; the scheme is working well.

Observations (derived from respondents and physical observations)

• OBA was an initiative of an individual who had analyzed beekeeping as a business and went on

to rally support behind his idea. He did most of the work himself and because people saw the

benefits, they joined in.

• The group is very cautious of what it can do (its abilities) and avoids going too wide into other

things beyond their own capacity. They have used DETREC and NAADS support to improve

on their project but have maintained their original ideas of the project. This group is already

self-sustainable but requires some strategic guidance in the next stages of developing their

business. For instance, one would wish to support them to be linked to a packer who pays well

or would wish to give them technical guidance on how to start packing their own honey for sale

in and around Lira, since there are no formally known honey packers in Lira district.

• OBA has a strong leadership and this has enabled them to manage the social dynamics involved.

2.1.5 ATEGO WIDOWS AND ORPHANS CARE (AWOC), LIRA DISTRICT

AWOC is a community based organisation (CBO) initiated by women in 2000 as a way of fighting

poverty and raising money to pay school fees for the orphans and to support the widows (The

Chairperson, Petra is a widow herself).

AWOC has one apiary located on the compound, near the home of the Chairperson, Ms. Petra. The

project started with 12 log hives which the chairperson bought using her own money (from Iceme

sub-county in Oyam district) at UGX 10,000 each. To date, there are 22 log hives, 7 top bar and 7

Johnson hives. There are 30 registered members (17 women and 13 men) in the group and all are

focused on beekeeping. To date however, they have no business plan, or strategic plan.

NAADS is supporting AWOC; the top-bar and Johnson hives were given to them by NAADS along

with two smokers and one bee suit. The group says these are not enough. NAADS is also

providing training support to the group.

AWOC sells honey from their centre, Anyomorem – people come and buy e.g. Caritas, an NGO

with an office in Lira. Each kilo of comb honey sells for UGX 3000 and the group is not interested

in packing honey as they easily sell the honey as soon as it is harvested. The money accruing from


honey is owned by the group and used for the group’s benefit, not individuals. It is planned the

money will be used for meeting the health and education needs of orphans/drop outs and as a means

to reduce poverty.

Data on production and sales were not readily available but the chairperson indicated that they

harvest between 10-30 kg of honey per harvesting season, 2-3 times a year.


• AWOC was an initiative of an individual who had been convinced that beekeeping is a business

and she went on to rally support behind this idea. She was motivated by the fact that she had

dependent children to care for; she needed an income generating activity that required little

capital, that was easy to carry out, and not requiring a lot of land and labour. The initiator is

gender sensitive and mobilized men to join and to date about half the members of the group are

men. She also deliberately targeted disadvantaged households where there were orphans and /

or school dropouts. She started with log hives.

• The group is struggling to cope with the business approach to beekeeping: making business and

strategic plans to guide their activities: accessing funds for expansion and achieving market

linkages.

2.1.6 AGORO DANG TWERO (ADT), LIRA DISTRICT

ADT was initiated in 2001 as a self-help project for the members and it traces its’ origin to the wife

of the group’s treasurer who had received training in beekeeping. She later encouraged others to

rally behind the idea of beekeeping in their parish in Adekokwok, Lira district.

It currently has 10 members who are mostly Persons with Disabilities hence the name Agoro Dang

Twero. These members are from one Parish but living in different villages. According to the

respondent, the success of the group has encouraged and inspired others to join. It was indicated

that the maximum size of the group is 30 people.

The land on which the apiary is sited was donated by the treasurer of the group. They began with

15 local hives; to date they have 25 hives in total. The initial 15 local hives are colonised while the

10 top bar hives, newly sited, are not colonised.

Agoro Dang Twero used their own finances to buy the 15 original log hives (each at UGX 5,000)

while the additional 10 top bar hives was part of the support package given to the group by

NAADS. In fact, the respondent said that NAADS promised them more top bar and Johnson hives,

but the number was not known yet.

They are also members of the SACCO scheme and shareholders in Oribcing Savings Co-operative.

As a group, they bought one (1) share of the SACCO at UGX 50,000.The benefits will be in the

form of dividends and easy access to loans from the SACCO. However, they have not taken out

any loans because they did not want to. However, according to the assessors, it seemed ADT lack

skills in sustainable loan acquisition, use / investment and repayment.

The group used the advantage of the connection to the treasurer's wife (she lives in Lira town) to

create a market linkage. She promotes the honey sales by informing customers and neighbouring

shops in her merchandise business to try the product. This honey is also sold to the local

surrounding communities. The honey is taken to the market in used containers and, it is sold at

UGX 3,000 per kg. They arrived at this price because it was the norm accepted by other producers.


• ADT is a community initiative built on the need to undertake a less challenging income

Strengthening trade in honey and other bee products: assessment report Page

10

generating activity by disabled people. The community was desperate, hit hard by severe

poverty, and thus needed an income generating activity that required little capital, that was easy

to carry out, and not requiring a lot of labour. Starting with the available log hives seems to

have helped them to take off.

• The leadership of the group seems not to be strong and it is difficult to see the group growing

fast. This possibly arose because membership is drawn from people with disabilities. Although

disability is not a criterion for membership, this factor seems to have defined the trend and

future of the group. They will therefore require a lot of support in order to grow. To date for

example, ADT lack airtight buckets: have only one overall that is shared, and have one smoker

that is in poor condition.

2.1.7 MOYO BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION (MBKA), MOYO DISTRICT

This association started in 1999 with 25 members and UGX 30,000. The association was founded

by people with interest in agriculture such as the District Agriculture Officer, Mr G. Onama whose

view was that beekeeping would enhance household incomes. The other individuals that have

promoted beekeeping in the district include political leaders such the Chairman LCV, Councillors

LCV (one of whom, former Coordinator, Anna Auru is the present Women MP for Moyo). They

were not beekeepers themselves but they perceived beekeeping as a good enterprise that was good

for rural livelihood incomes.

To date (2007), the group has 125 members (approx. 50% men, 50% women). MBKA is registered

with registrar of companies at national level as well as at the district. According to the Chairman of

the Association, Mr John Keffa, members to the association are registered through the payment of a

membership fee of UGX 5,000.

MBKA has a total of 3,025 top-bar hives, 7,000 log hives, 100 frame hives and 70 Tanzania2 Top-

bar hives. 75% are colonised.

In the years 2000 to 2004, a consortium of 3 NGOS (ACORD, African Action Helifi (AAH) and

Village Oriented Development Program (VODP) supported the association in terms of training and

beekeeping equipment.

The group has a full management structure with Coordinator, Production Manager, Field officers,

Sales Manager, Accountant, office cleaner. There is also a Board structure with Chairperson, Vice

Chairperson, General Secretary, Assistant Secretary, and Treasurer.

There are purchasing centres in all parishes in Moyo with their own stores and leadership

(Chairperson, Purchasing Manager and Treasurer).

They lobby for support from NGOS and government (NAADS) for members and the money raised

is used for buying harvesting equipment, buckets, training, and other equipment mandatory in

beekeeping.

The Coordinator is a technical person in beekeeping trained in South Africa (and was a soldier in

Uganda). He is also one of the service providers for beekeeping enterprise training engaged by

NAADS in the district. Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) and NGOS in Southern

Sudan also contract him to do the same.

Tanzania top bar hive is hive design type originating from Tanzania with straight sides, instead of

sloping sides.


11

They purchase honey (comb) and crude propolis for processing and packing. Packaging materials

are obtained from Afro Plastic Ltd but they also use used packages e.g. Jerry cans and film cups.

They also buy honey from non-members, especially those who have been trained.

Bee Natural Products Ltd had buying centres in Moyo and Adjumani for buying honey, but they

were not paying cash. Beekeepers then refused to sell to them and they closed these two buying

centres. They were buying at the same price as MBKA and other buyers, but on credit.

MBKA cannot buy all the good honey that is available because of lack of working capital. For

example, by the time of the assessment, June 2007, there were 300 jerry cans, of between 27-30 kg

of honey per jerry can, almost 1 tonne, with one of the MBKA affiliated groups, but there was no

money to buy it. This honey was from the group that has close relationship with Southern Sudan

communities. The association also makes different kinds of hives.

In 2005, their honey was tested at UNBS and the product was approved to be of acceptable

standard, but is not yet using the Q-mark. Quality issues are a significant challenge. The

association members have attended national agricultural shows in West Nile and Kisoro; Jua Kali

Show and International Trade Fair (Lugogo – Kampala), District shows and shows organised by

NGOs e.g. CEFORD, SNV, etc.

Honey is sold in West Nile and mainly Moyo Hospital (individual patients undergoing operation,

etc).The association sells many other products like body jelly, candles, propolis ointment, propolis

tincture and honey wine. Other honey outlets include Kampala (not in shops but on order) and

Kenya. Average sales are 7 – 12 tonnes per year and increasing.

Challenges:

• Wax moth that contributes to absconding of bees from hives3

• Bee paralysis4, where bees shiver and die. This is common in southern Sudan.

• Bee poisoning causes by indiscriminate spraying of crop fields from which bees forage pollen

and nectar.

• Lack of finance (working capital) for buying honey.

• Transport constraint: to purchase honey from members in places like Obongi County where the

roads are very poor. Honey has to be moved on bicycles over 110km to Moyo town.

• No technical person on beekeeping at the district level to support farmers on these issues. This

places a heavy burden on the technical staff of the association.

The association premises are crowded with packaging materials, honey in jerry cans, wine making,

honey tanks, and drinking tables all found in the same place. This association is pragmatic in its

development programmes as it has a well-documented strategic plan and has its members are highly

knowledgeable in beekeeping and production due to the exposure they have had through show and

trade fairs. The association currently owns a piece of land in Moyo town to establish its’ own

premises for operations.

2.1.8 NEBBI BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION, NEBBI DISTRICT

The association started in 1993 with a small membership but has expanded with time and currently

has 2500 members. The association has 15,000 traditional hives, 129 frame hives, and 4500

3 In fact, wax moth is a symptom of weak colonies, not a cause in itself: a strong honey bee colony will readily

defend itself from wax moth. Some other factor will be the reason for wax moth presence in weak colonies,

that will then abscond 4 This could be caused by bee paralysis virus, but could also be due to many other factors


12

Tanzanian hives. Currently, it collects about 2 tonnes per year, but estimates that it has the potential

to collect about 100 tonnes from its 2500 members. It has been closely working with NAADS to

conduct training of association members and other individual members. However, NAADS

operates in only eight of the 19 sub counties in Nebbi district and has demonstration apiaries in only

four sub counties. The association is loosely linked with BNP, collects honey from members, and

sells it to BNP, a company that buys and packs honey.

The association has noticed that beekeeping has had an impact on members, as they are able to pay

school fees for their children. The association however, does not have a strategic plan to guide in

its activities.

Challenges

• Scattered producers and a poor transport system makes honey transport difficult and thus

making honey bulking for collective marketing difficult.

• Inadequate knowledge in harvesting, poor techniques of harvesting results in honey mixed with

wax

• Lack of trainers to help in training beekeepers in best practices.

• Lack of appropriate packaging and storage equipment.

• Lack of enough working capital to buy all the honey from the members.

• Lack of follow up of beekeeping activities after trainings have been conducted.

The association voiced their urgent need for training especially in beekeeping and harvesting as

many are lacking adequate knowledge. The general lack of service providers to train group

members in harvesting and hive management has led to low production.

2.1.9 YUMBE DISTRICT FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION, YUMBE DISTRICT

The association has not yet been fully structured, as there are no registered members. Only one

member (former chairperson of the association) has an apiary and a project on beekeeping. The

apiary has 38 top-bar hives, 14 log hives (total 58) and all are colonised. He also buys honey from

the beekeepers. The farmer had 2 tonnes of honey in his store and was looking for a buyer. He

would be willing to sell a kilo of chunk honey at UGX 2000.

There are 16 beekeeping groups in the district who are periodically mobilised and trained under his

own programme. They are developing a strategic plan, but no business plan yet, under the close

supervision and guidance of SNV. The chairman of the association has a shop selling various

quantities of honey ranging from UGX 500 to UGX 25,000. This makes it possible for customers

to buy honey quantities within their financial reach. However, the shop also sells agricultural inputs

including pesticides.

2.1.10 HOIMA DISTRICT FARMERS ASSOCIATION (HDFA), HOIMA DISTRICT

HDFA is an association composed of all beekeeping groups in the district whether registered or not.

According to the Chairman, Mr. Kitaribara Ronald, HDFA has 252 members. It was reported that

each member of the group must possess at least one hive. The majority of members own mainly log

and woven hives although some have frame and top-bar hives.

The role of the association is to offers its’ members a ready market for their honey, in addition to

training and loans for purchasing of bee hives. The association is responsible for making linkages

between the honey producers and the buyers. Outlets for Hoima honey include the local community

in Hoima and other districts, like Masindi. Other services provided by HDFA include training of its

members, supporting members by linking them to the district to acquire hives of subsidized price.

It was observed that the association is not delivering many of these services.


13

The executive members of HDFA hail from sub counties and through this arrangement, information

is easily disseminated. The team visited one member of the Hoima District Farmers association,

Mr. Amir Orumba, and he explained that he started beekeeping in 1966 as young boy and by 1994,

he established the current apiary with 18 hives. Mr Orumba sells honey to Bulindi collecting

centre, which is a distance of about 50km. However, he reported to be constrained by lack of

finances to support purchase of equipment like the protective suit. He also mentioned that the

association did not meet regularly. The team also visited Mr. Johnson, who owns an apiary with 12

frame hives, 5 top bar hives and 12 woven and log hives. He estimated that beekeeping contributed

10% of the family income. He however experienced a setback in the previous season due to wild

fire that raged through the bushes, destroying many of his log hives located in the hills.

The district farmers association is not properly organised and meetings were reportedly not held

consistently. The association was reported to be struggling with poor membership recruitment, lack

of commitment, as they do not pay membership fees or annual subscriptions. The association is

supposed to be in charge of the honey-collecting centre at Bulindi (see section 2.4.1) but has not

been so because of poor managerial skills within the association. There seem to be conflict between

the association and the technical people buying honey and the Bulindi centre.

2.1.11 BUSIRIBA BEEKEEPING AND PINEAPPLE GROUP, KAMWENGE DISTRICT

This association is located near the Kibale Forest National in Kamwenge District. It started in 1998

with beekeeping, tree planting and pineapple growing as the main projects. The initiative was

triggered by the late 1990s IUCN conservation project that was implemented to provide alternative

sources of livelihoods to the communities living around Kibale National Park. These communities

were encroaching massively on the forest and caused substantive loss of the forest biodiversity.

Later on, the association signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Uganda Wild Life

Authority (UWA) to set up two apiary sites in the forest as beekeeping does not interfere with the

park/forest resources but rather compliments them. There are many bee colonies in the park and

therefore it is easy for hives to be colonised.

To date it has 35 members (composed of both men and women) and they are still recruiting more

members. The group is registered with the district, has its’ own constitution and meets every

month. The association makes it own hives and is involved in sensitizing communities around the

park on the importance of beekeeping in the conservation of natural resources and improving

household income. The association owns two apiaries in the park but bush fires destroyed one in

2006 leaving one of the 10 hives (top-bar and local). The association plans to increase the number

to 100 and is already making top-bar hives for this purpose. Each top-bar hive is sold for UGX

26,000and local hives for UGX 2,000. The association produced 1,002 kg of honey in 2005 and

this was sold to the local markets around especially to local brewers, to consolidators from

Kampala, Kamwenge Beekeepers Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (KABECOS) and

Kabarole Beekeepers Association (KBA). The prices were reported to range from UGX 2,500 to

3,000 for liquid honey. In 2006, the production was nil because bush fires destroyed 36 hives.

Whereas there is no NAADS support, the group has received support in the form of training from

Kabarole Beekeepers association (KBA) and Africare that gave them 10 frame hives (the group

have failed to harvest from the frame hives because there is no centrifuge) The chairman himself

has 25 hives (local and top-bar hives).

Constraints

• Honey theft before harvesting

• Lack of financial support to procure equipment


14

• Low production levels of honey yet spread among many scattered individuals over many

kilometres.

• Inactive members not supportive to group development

• Women are not actively involved as some are reluctant to participate in beekeeping thinking it a

man’s domain.

• Lack of facilities to transport honey from producing centres to marketing centres.

2.1.12 NGOMA UWESO BEEKEEPING ASSOCIATION, NAKASEKE DISTRICT

This CBO was formed under the arrangement of Uganda Women’s Efforts to Save Orphans

(UWESO) during the implementation of its programmes. During the operations of UWESO, the

farmers received hives and they would in turn sell their honey through UWESO. The group

possesses a honey processing plant that handles honey purchases and sales on behalf of the group.

The membership is not known since there are no longer any meetings and the chairman, Mr. Ganafa

George William said that the people are waiting for a donor to activate the processing plant and

stimulate other beekeeping activities such as training and equipment supply. Honey is bought from

the members of the group and non-members. The group is chaired by Mr. Ganafa George William,

who also manages the processing unit (collecting centre).

They sell their honey unpacked since UWESO, which used to pack and market the honey,

concluded its activities in Nakaseke. The association sometimes sell to Malaika honey, a local bulk

buyer of honey. The demand is however not consistent making the organisation in and out of

business. The group has almost disintegrated because the beekeepers were more reliant on the

UWESO programme than their own vision. The departure of UWESO marked the end of activities.

The direction this group took after the departure of UWESO is a lesson to learn for each of the

development partners, to ensure that project sustainability needs to be developed, by allowing the

community to be trained to handle and manage any interventions

2.1.13 KIRUHURA DISTRICT BEEKEEPING ACTIVITIES,

The project team visited individual beekeepers in Kazo County and well as Nyabushozi County in

Kiruhura district. Beekeeping activities are being undertaken in almost all parts of the district.

As highlighted by Mr. Sebastian Ssenyonga, the NAADS coordinator in the district, beekeeping

activities under the NAADS programme are in six sub counties of the eight sub counties of the

district. The sub counties currently under NAADS include Kinoni, Nyakasharara, Burunga,

Buramba, Kazo and Kashongi. In each of these sub counties there are farmer groups. The role of

NAADS in district beekeeping development activities is to provide services and streamlining of

technology development, such as facilitating the supply of frame hives to beekeepers.

Through its intervention, NAADS is building the capacity of beekeepers by mobilizing them to

form and register groups at village level from which two members of the registered group merge at

the sub county, to form the sub county farmer’s body. The sub county farmer’s body elects the

executive made up of three members and joined by the chairmen from parish associations to form

the sub county farmer’s executive committee. The sub county farmers committee forms the district

farmers’ forum. This process is being facilitated by NAADs.

Assessment of the selection of any enterprise is done at the sub county level committee, guided by

the NAADS coordinator. Only one individual in the district is involved in formal processing,

packaging and marketing. However, a visit to this packer proved that the person is barely

functioning as a honey packing business. Other projects handled in the district include dairy

development, fruit growing and banana growing among others.


15

2.1.14 KAZO APICULTURE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

Kazo Apiculture Development Centre was initiated by its Director Mr. Kahira Abby who has been

practicing beekeeping for the last 30 years. The Director of the centre started beekeeping while a

resident in Bushenyi district, and when he migrated to Kazo, he continued with the activity. He

reported that beekeeping is not an activity for the majority of Kazo residents as they have found it

incompatible with cattle keeping.

The centre is involved in beehive making especially woven hives that have been upgraded by

putting in place a queen excluder. The hive was observed to be smaller than the local hive, simple

in technology and more affordable compared to the frame hives. Such a technology is suitable for

beginners in beekeeping. Kazo Apiculture Development Centre has been contracted by NAADS to

offer training services to the NAADS beekeeping groups in the district.

There is however, poor market access for honey in some areas because most farmers are

disorganised and not working in groups, hence exposed to exploitation by consolidators.

Challenges

• Beekeeping, even when prioritized, can be sidelined if other activities are seen as more

important e.g. in this region cattle keeping dominates development

• There is general fear of the bee sting

• Apiculture development in the district is politicized

• The service providers used by NAADS are not well trained

• Due to the high cost of frame hives, few farmers can manage to own more than five hives.

2.1.15 KAARO COOPERATIVES SAVINGS AND CREDIT SOCIETY (KCSCS)

KCSCS was established in 1997 to fill the financial service gaps in Nyabushozi County. KCSCS is

owned by the people of Rushere and was started by Col. Fred Mwesigye. The activities of

focus for KCSCS are:

� Loans for purchasing milk coolers for milk farmers, as well farm equipment to crop farmers

� Provision of solar panels for lights

� Establishment of apiculture

KCSCS is a membership organisation and representatives come from each group to constitute the

KAARO organisation. The organisation has up to 14 groups of which four are for women e.g.

Kinoni, Mothers’ Union. Some of the members have accounts with the KCSCS while others are

shareholders in the company. The KCSCS is involved in activities like organizing trainings for

beekeepers, provision of hive equipment and ensuring that information is shared between the

member organisation s. It thus offers ‘soft’ loans in the form of frame hives to the beekeepers,

which were reported to cost up to UGX 150,000. The group repays the hive loan by paying UGX

25,000 on receipt of the hives and thereafter pay monthly to finish the balance. Beginners however,

are usually given free hives. After the hive is colonised, they come to purchase more.

KCSCS owns a honey-collecting centre equipped with centrifuge extractor and buys honey from the

members and non-members. The honey is packed in containers such as 20 litre jerry cans, soda and

mineral water bottles and these are sold in local shops, supermarkets, and surrounding areas like

Mbarara, Kampala. The Organisation could not show the team a cost benefit analysis to establish

the feasibility of beekeeping using frame hives at the high cost mentioned (UGX 150,000 per hive).

Challenges of the organisation

� Low capital base of the organisation to enable members buy more hives.


16

� Instant increase in the volume of honey produced and no established market to handle this

honey

� Honey is market on individual base and no collaborative marketing has been established

� High cost input (the frame hives are expensive and beyond the capacity of individual beekeepers

to establish a feasible apiary).

Observation

The microfinance component of KARO benefits only individuals with capacity to access loans

since they have property to attach as collateral when accessing the loans. This leaves the poor

households interested in beekeeping unable to expand their apiary using frame hive technology.

This category of beekeepers therefore requires another technology that is cost effective and

affordable.

It was also notable that Col. Fred Mwesigye the initiator of KCSCS has a model apiary. This is

highly valuable to the development of the KCSCS and beekeeping activities since it would act as a

model to others in the area.

2.1.16 BUDONGO FOREST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (BUCODO), MASINDI

DISTRICT.

Budongo Forests Community Development Organisation (BUCODO) based in Masindi district is

an indigenous voluntary NGO initiated by the local community living around Budongo Forest

Reserve in 1998. It was registered with the National NGO Board as a local NGO on 4 February

2000.S.5914/3108 and Incorporated with the Registrar of companies on 23rd October 2000 with

registration No. 46213 as a Company Limited by guarantee.

The Organisation aims at promoting a pro-poor approach to the management and conservation of

natural forests for the improvement of livelihoods of households around the reserve. This is done

through beekeeping, tree planting and growing of medicinal plants – this increases bees forage but

also enhances the natural biodiversity of the reserve.

BUCODO as a CBO is responsible for outreach support to grass root members. It encourages

conservation of natural resources in the communities, as well as social-economic and environmental

benefits through awareness raising, education, demonstrations and sustainable development

programmes. Thus, bee keeping is a sustainable natural resource use strategy, promoted in order to

reduce poverty.

In 2004, BUCODO received training offered by Mr. Owot Ramsay of Nakasongola Apiculture

Training School. After the training, the BUCODO administration organised to operate the NGO-

donor way of implementing projects by giving out 150 top-bar hives to the member farmers each

getting five hives (thirty farmers in all). However, the market implications were not considered,

and after a short period, honey production had increased but the beekeepers had no market for their

honey and other products. The farmers were linked by BUCODO to honey buyers like Matai (U)

Limited, who then packed the honey in their names. The farmers however felt they were being

exploited and they began to seek buyers elsewhere.

BUCODO is currently promoting the use of frame-hive technology and is reported to have trained a

team of carpenters to manufacture frame hives. This development had some implications for their

whole production and business approach. Hive products from local style hives yield little honey but

substantive quantities of propolis and bees wax. The main hive product from frame hives is honey.

The BUCODO administration suggested the groups to adopt the use of honey houses to ensure a

centralized process of processing frame-hive honey. An extractor was procured but was of poor

quality and it rusted shortly thereafter.


17

The promotion of the frame-hive technology was because it enhances honey quality by elimination

of smoke and other contaminants during harvesting due to contact during harvesting. With this

technology, hives can be harvested during the day hence avoiding accidentally killing of bees.

The group desired to expand and commercialize its operations by developing the enterprise

development arm; Natural Enterprises Development Ltd (NED).This aims at accessing markets for

the honey, branding it (with the type of hives from which it was obtained) and packaging it. This is

based on the demand for honey the community has discovered, especially export market. By

introducing this industrial strategy, BUCODO believes to operate autonomously from NED. NED

is believed to do marketing of other natural conservation related activities, and is not limited to

beekeeping.

BUCODO is now involved in many district activities like those operating in Hoima. They have

begun to write project proposals concerning other activities. BUCODO has signed a Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) with TASO- Masindi to promote beekeeping among People Having HIV

and AIDS (PHAs), for the purposes of generating income. This is based on the premise that TASO

and BUCODO are jointly involved in community development.

BUCODO plans to develop the honey sector where honey from different hives is packaged

differently for purposes of appealing to different markets. BUCODO is also working together with

TULLOW, an oil drilling company in Hoima, to establish a project to support the community in the

area that enhances sustainable natural resource management activities. Beekeeping and tree

planting have been earmarked. BUCODO intends to become the leading community initiative in

advocating for sustainable natural resource use by increasing the impact of forests and trees in

reducing poverty through community farming within Uganda by the year 2020.

2.1.17 SIHUBIRA FARMER’S ORGANISATION (SFO), BUSIA DISTRICT

This group located in the Samba Bugwe South started in 1994 as a nucleus Community Based

Organisation (CBO) to cater for home needs of its members. The group has benefited from the

support given by VECO Uganda, a Belgian NGO, which has helped them initiate projects that aim

at improving household income and food security. Since 2002, the CBO expanded and to date

consists of 16 member groups that also include the northern part of Busia district. Apiculture as a

sub component was brought on board in 2004 by VECO’s training initiative that led to establishing

a demonstration apiary located on the land of one of the members. Further training has been

received from various trainers especially Mr. Kiisali of Mt Elgon Beekeeping Community

(MEBKC).

SFO has 3-year strategic plan in which it plans to expand marketing of honey, jointly holding an

exhibition with the beekeepers in Mbale, Tororo and Busia. SFO plans to boost hive colonization

rates through queen rearing.

The current membership is 230 consisting of 134 women and 98 men. SFO has 233 hives of which

210 are frame hives, 9 local style and 14 top-bar hives. It was reported that 75% of the hives were

colonized.

Honey is harvested by specially trained personnel in the group whose payment is usually in kind.

Honey is collected at the resource centre where it is processed using the centrifugal honey extractor.

It is weighed and stored in airtight buckets ready for sale in liquid form. The organisation packs

their honey in 500g jars sold at a wholesale price of UGX 2,500. Some is sold informally to rural

clinics, hotels, schools and others on cash basis. The total honey sales for February/March 2007

amounted to cash value of UGX 260,000 while October/November 2006 harvests amounted to


18

UGX 330,000. The organisation procures some honey from non-member associations or

individuals.

The proceeds from sales are reinvested in SFO’s SACCO where members save money and others

borrow. Wax is only used as an attractant in newly sited hives as no other value has been realized

for the commercial purposes. Mr. Mako makes harvesting boards called “Mako board” that

facilitates harvesting of honey without the use of smokers an innovation that aims to ensure no

smoke contaminates the honey.

The development of beekeeping as an activity in SFO is constrained by

• Lack of proper harvesting gear

• The area of coverage is large and this makes mobilisation and follow up by the bee

harvesting team difficult.

• Inadequate knowledge and skills in harvesting

• Lack of Poor colonization rates of the hives

Training needs

SFO mentioned the following training needs

• Training in queen rearing techniques to ensure colonization of the hives. This is based on

the belief that wild bee colonies are insufficient to colonise the hives.

• Training and guidance in product labelling so as to produce a product of distinguished

quality

• Harvesting techniques need to be known by many people to hasten harvesting among the

members’ apiaries.

• Equipment manufacturing. Already one member of the organisation is involved in

equipment manufacturing and is copying the design of the harvesting board. The board is to

ensure honey is harvested without using a smoker.

2.1.18 MOUNT ELGON BEEKEEPING COMMUNITY (MEBKC), SIRONKO DISTRICT

This group is located on the slopes of Mountain Elgon in Sironko district. MEBKC was formed in

1998 with beekeeping as a major activity since little capital was required to start. MEBKC acts as a

district apiculture umbrella organisation and constitutes 189 members distributed in 12 groups. It is

a registered NGO involved in other activities like the growing of maize, bean, and coffee among

others. MEBKC makes beekeeping equipment like hives and smokers, conducts training for its

members and is hired to train in other neighbouring districts.

To date MEBKC has over 4020 hives among its members and these include frame, log and woven,

Johnson and top-bar. On average 6 tonnes of honey is harvested annually.

Through its activities, many people have taken to beekeeping, an activity that was regarded

dangerous to the community, as bees were considered deadly because of their stings.

MEBKC has received support for its different activities, including beekeeping, from NGOs such as

VECO-Uganda, SNV, NARO, Eco Trust and Uganda Wild Life Authority (UWA). VECO for

example has supported MEBKC to develop a 3-year strategic plan (2007-2010). In this process, it

contracted a consultant to develop the plan in consultation with members of the MEBKC. Since

2005, MEBKC has been working with VECO and they have, among other things, recruited an

Extension Officer (employed by VECO) to work with MEBKC. The Extension Officer tries to

work very closely with NAADS and other government departments (e.g. NARO, UWA) and other

non-governmental agencies (e.g. Eco Trust, private sector, SNV) to complement the group’s work.


19

For instance, SNV has expressed interest in providing training and other advisory services to

MEBKC in the very near future.

NAADS has also started working in Sironko 2007/08 and has expressed interest in supporting

MEBKC. MEBKC has plans to establish a collecting centre at Sironko district. Honey harvesting

is done by individual farmers and is collected and packed at MEBKC processing centre in 500g and

250g jars bought from Afro plastic. The honey is sold to local consumers, hospitals, and

supermarkets like Pal Supermarket in Mbale town.

Major constraints include

• Pests such as black ants and diseases

• Theft of honey by unscrupulous persons.

• Lack of modern equipment that, they believe, would lead to increased production.

Training needs

People require training in effective harvesting methods, especially when using frame hives.

2.1.19 BULMEZI BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION (BBA) LUWERO DISTRICT

BBA is an association of beekeepers headed by Nalongo Semwogerere, of Luwero Town Council,

Luwero District. She is a retired civil servant and has many business interests. Nalongo spoke to

the assessment team as they visited her project.

Nalongo had badly made frame hives that were not colonised. She was waiting to get some swarms

from Nakasongola, as somebody had promised to deliver to her at a cost. Her group is small and

each member more or less does things on their own. She appeared be confused as to how to use the

supers in frame hives, and Alice Kangave Principal Entomologist from MAAIF explained their

proper use. Alice also told her where the group members could buy good quality frame hives

instead of the poor quality ones she had.

Observations (derived from respondent and physical observation)

• The group was interested but did not know much about frame hives. They went for

numbers, not quality seemingly because somebody told them frame hives are the best.

• The leadership of this group was apparently not very strong yet. Moreover, because of the

many business interests of Nalongo, relatively less time was spent on the beekeeping project

compared to other enterprises.

2.2 PACKERS

2.2.1 SOROTI DISTRICT FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION (SODIFA)

SODIFA is a Non profit-making organisation partly funded by DANIDA. It started the beekeeping

project in 2005 but has other financing units apart from apiculture that includes catering, supplies of

produce and livestock, tree planting/nursery and agricultural inputs.

SODIFA are producers, processors and packers of honey branded “pure honey”. They own an

apiary in Omodoi village, which is along Serere Road that is about 3km from Soroti Town. In their

apiary, there are 40 frame hives, painted white; it was reported that the hives painted green were not

colonizing well. The respondent also hinted that some other farmers are also complaining that their

hives with the same painting are not colonizing well. They believe the reason is that the green paint

must have some chemical that is deterring the bees.

The output at the apiary is below capacity because the four hives harvested in the previous week

only yielded 13 kg of honey. The respondent noted that honey production depends on the weather


20

conditions thus the lesser the rains the better (it had actually been raining heavily at that time). To

supplement on what they produce, SODIFA also buys honey from individual beekeepers and

organised beekeeper groups from within Soroti district, not necessarily their registered members.

No contractual arrangements are made between the two parties however; SODIFA helps to train the

producers and at times offers one of their field officers to harvest the honey for the producers since

the beekeepers lack the harvesting equipment.

Most of the honey brought to them is not extracted and the price at which they buy the honey

depends on the type of hive from which the honey came. For example, 1kg of comb honey from

log hive is bought at UGX 1,500; the same quantity from top-bar frame is bought at UGX 2,600.

The difference in price between the log hive honey and top-bar honey is due to post harvesting

handling. Honey from top-bar hives has less smoke compared to honey from log hives and in many

cases, the log honey has some brood

Production in 2006 was between 200kg – 400kg. There is a lot of honey available with farmers and

SODIFA is only able to take a limited volume - : in other words, supply exceeds demand. This

could be simply because they are not yet exploring other market outlets.

SODIFA sells the honey at their premises. There is no form of intensive marketing carried out

since it is not distributed to any outlets and there are no advertisements or promotions, even within

Soroti district. The respondent also mentioned an issue of another packer called “SODIFA farmers”

who packs and sells honey around Soroti town in supermarkets and other outlets. The conflict of

name is yet to be resolved; the District Commercial Officer (Mr. Ojamuge Norman) has pledged to

help resolve this should SODIFA officially approach his office.

SODIFA sells 500g of liquid honey at UGX 3,500 and considers this to cover the cost of production

or purchase and packaging, with a mark-up of 20%. . However, the assessors were not sure this

was true. Over the next 2-5 years, SODIFA want to explore export markets.

SODIFA have participated in the Agricultural Show in Jinja (2006) and all the honey they took to

the show was sold. They are planning to participate again in 2007; they would be interested in

participating in other shows and exhibitions.

SODIFA has been operating without a proper business plan. DANIDA has recently contracted a

consultant to develop a business plan for them and the draft is out (and comments are being

generated from SODIFA themselves – June 2007). They have no specific business plan for honey

component, something that therefore limits their professional approach in this area. They were

advised to undertake this; they are very positive and feel they need support in developing one.

What seems clear to them is that a consultant should prepare the business plan, not themselves.

However, the question is; should a consultant do a business plan for anybody or the benefactor

should be guided to develop a business plan using participatory approach?


1 Quality issues: SODIFA does not manage honey quality well and this partly accounts for the

disparity of prices of log hive honey and top-bar hive honey. Crude methods like smoking

are still used which affects the quality.

2 Many farmers still lack harvesting gears and extractors, as they do not want to buy their

own. Even where NAADS has given some harvesting gears in the 14 sub-counties in Soroti,

farmers are still limited to access these gears: they are few and farmers are many.

3 Farmers still fear bees and thus the reason to get the SODIFA extension officer to harvest

for some of them.


21

4 Despite the training farmers have received, honey harvesting is not done on time leaving

many hives not harvested. It seems many of these producers have not gained skills in best

beekeeping practices an aspect that needs urgent attention.

5 SODIFA seem more focussed on promoting other components of their businesses other than

the beekeeping component; they tend to spend more time and money on other projects and

give less attention to the apiculture project.

6 The mobilization of farmers seems to be weak and farmers have failed to see the advantages

in collective marketing. Many seem discouraged from joining SODIFA as they see that the

issue of ownership is not very clear.

2.2.2 SOROTI CATHOLIC DIOCESE INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (SOCADIDO)

SOCADIDO, which operates in Soroti, Kumi, Katakwi, Amuria and Kaberamaido districts (an area

popularly known as the Teso sub-region) came into being in 1981. Its mandate is derived from the

mission of the Catholic Church i.e. to promote the development of people in order to enable them

live with dignity. Because of this, they have been engaged in a range of activities such as dairy,

livestock, tree planting, and apiculture among others.

Around 1999/2000, Father Mburo acquired honey extraction equipment, but it was never used, but

rather kept in the stores. When NAADS interventions started, SOCADIDO was contracted to do

institutional development in which beekeeping was identified. Various government agencies and

CSO’s offered trainings and support in form of so-called modern hives. A survey later carried out

showed that despite this support, harvesting, processing and marketing were poorly managed and

that the farmers were accusing SOCADIDO for only stimulating them to produce, yet they were

unable to pack and sell their honey. At this point SOCADIDO decided to fill the gap and start a

packaging unit/facility alongside the dairy processing unit and other activities.

The honey component effectively started in April 2006 with what came to be referred to as the Teso

Honey Refineries situated within the SOCADIDO premises in Soroti town, along Serere Road.

Besides mobilizing and training farmers on bee keeping practices, SOCADIDO started by buying

in the open weekly markets in the nearby sub-counties. To date the organisation has 29 farmer

groups each with 20-30 members; there are also 350 registered individual beekeepers that supply

honey directly and do not sell to other packers.

They have contracted a consultant to develop a business plan for the beekeeping component such

that it enables them to acquire support in the form of machinery.

There are two dedicated technical staff and two honey handlers (support staff) working on the

honey component. This ensures that there is follow up and constant planning and implementation

of activities related to beekeeping.

SOCADIDO buys honey in three grades that also vary in prices. They buy from Monday to

Saturday. Table 1 shows SOCADIDO honey grades:

Table 1: SOCADIDO honey grades

GRADE TYPE PRICE

(UGX) per

KG A Frame hive honey extracted from sealed (ripe) comb frames using

centrifugal extractor

3,000

B Light brown comb honey properly sealed (ripe) with no pollen, larvae, 2,000


22

brood, dirt

C Dark brown comb honey properly sealed with no pollen, larvae, brood and

dirt

1,500

The honey is bulked at the refinery and packed under the brand name Teso Pure Honey; currently

honey is packed in plastic jars but the packing plant hope to use glass jars in the future to avoid

leaks. This leakage problem has denied Teso Pure Honey entry into bigger supermarkets and other

outlets in Kampala. Some of their consumers have also complained to them about this, saying that

despite the fact that their honey is certified by Uganda National Bureau of Standards, the leaking

alone was discouraging. Once the glass jars are introduced (some samples were already available),

the price of the honey will definitely go up.

Apart from the honey, they also process wax that is not sold but rather given back to farmers to be

used in their apiaries as baits for bees.

SOCADIDO has some intensive marketing initiatives in place. Advertising has been undertaken

through radio stations, personal selling and publicity through the Etop newspaper. The honey is

distributed to supermarkets in Soroti i.e. Fidoshe, Shell Lira Rd and Kyoga supermarket. Other

destinations are Lira, Kampala, Kumi and Mbale but they also sell the honey from their plant.

Table 2: Price range of SOCADIDO honey

Sale Weight Price (UGX)

Retail 500gm 3000

Wholesale 500gm 2700

Carton 24 jars of 500g 64,480

With the aim of penetrating the regional and consequently the international markets, FIT Uganda

worked with SOCADIDO to train the staff on market linkages and pricing. As a result, they are

now selling in supermarkets in Kampala. The supermarkets in Kampala required the use of bar

codes and SOCADIDO had to acquire bar codes to be accepted in these supermarkets.

One year after operations, (April 2006 –April 2007), 3.1701 tonnes of honey were bought from 329

farmers of whom 61 were females and 268 males. The honey enabled these households get a total

income of UGX 5,692,200 as shown in the table below.

Table 3: SOCADIDO Honey purchases

Year Grade A

(Kg)

Grade B

(Kg)

Grade C

(Kg)

Total

(Kg)

Amount paid (UGX)

April – Dec 2006 132.5 521.5 457.5 1,111.5 2,060,500

Jan - April 2007 264.3 559 1,235.3 2,058.6 3,631,700

Total 396.8 1,080.5 1,692.8 3,170.1 5,692,200

From the stock purchased from farmers, a total sale of UGX 7,390,000 has already been achieved,

while there is UGX 2,649,000 worth of honey in stock. In stock also is UGX 450,000 worth of

processed beeswax. Plans are underway to increase production by giving 100 frame hives to

farmers and supporting them to increase their honey sales to SOCADIDO.


23


1 Obtaining inputs for production is a big challenge to the beekeepers in the wake of too much

interest in beekeeping among farmers and yet they are unable to afford equipment like hives,

harvesting gears.

2 Farmers are still afraid of bee stings.

3 Quality of hives among farmers: different suppliers supply equipment some of which are of

poor quality and therefore do not colonize, easily become rusted while other hives are poorly

sited by the farmers.

4 There are no dedicated staff to support beekeepers in the field – staff are only available at the

refinery. The technical staff at the refinery have to spend some of their time doing field

activities.

5 Collecting honey from farmers in different parts of Soroti is difficult due to transport and other

logistical requirements.

6 Breaking into the supermarkets still a challenge due to some stringent requirements.

7 Finance is also a major problem to enable them to purchase machinery and other equipment.

8 In some cases, farmers have a negative perception about collective production and marketing.

9 SOCADIDO is acting very cautiously in whatever they are doing and do not want to venture yet

into the export market, challenging government’s export promotional view saying, “why go for

export yet when honey is selling so well in the local market”. They added that the government

is calling for diversification of the economy but were doing little to support the efforts in the

beekeeping sector. SOCADIDO is interested in selling table (packed) honey and not selling in

bulk to other major packers.

2.2.3 SOROTI ENVIRONMENT CONCERNS (SEC), SOROTI DISTRICT

Soroti Environment Concern (SEC) is a local registered organisation, non-profit making, based in

Soroti district. It was launched in December 2000 to cover all the other Teso districts but due to

funding impediments, its impact has only been felt in a few parts, especially in Soroti district.

SEC’s mission is natural resource management and income generation through activities at

grassroots by supporting self-help initiatives.

Beekeeping aside, SEC is also involved in the implementation of integrated projects as alternative

sources of household livelihoods to save the environment. These projects include poultry keeping,

citrus production, shea-nut butter packing, fish farming, and upland rice growing, sustainable

agriculture, biodiversity and vegetable growing. They also train on energy efficient technologies,

capacity building and are involved in awareness campaigns to the community. These activities

have been funded by UNDP GEF/Small Grant Programme for the last 3 years (2 years more to go).

SEC has no business plan – nothing like that for beekeeping!

SEC started honey processing in a crude way but professionally begun to extract and pack honey in

January 2007. They actually managed to build a processing / packaging plant in Kyere (Serere)

with only one staff (Diploma Agriculture, Arapai) and no other technical staff. In the plant they

have a centrifugal machine and airtight containers, all acquired through the UNDP grant funding.

The farmers take the honey for extraction to the plant

SEC has five groups doing beekeeping each with about 18–20 members; each group received 20

hives under the project. Most recipients to these frame hives were identified, since they were

already practicing beekeeping using log hives. Some farmers are already buying own hives (frame


24

hives). SEC indicated that they are not encouraging use of log hives but rather improved

technologies. The reason for this approach was not very clear but seems to be opinion driven by

other similar projects.

Farmers take the honey to the plant for processing and are given a certain percentage of the incomes

from honey after sales are realized. The remaining percentage is retained by the project to keep the

activities running e.g. buying packaging materials, labels, and paying the employees, etc.

Customers buy the packed honey from SEC offices in Soroti town; there is not much effort put into

marketing this honey in some other places.

The statistics available showed that since January 2007, SEC has packed 10 cartons of honey and

sold all at their Soroti town offices; each 500g pack sells for UGX 2,500.


1. This project was initiated to give the producers/beneficiaries’ alternative livelihood sources

apart from charcoal burning, tree felling, etc; it was never implemented as business from which

producers could obtain wealth to better their lives. There is therefore a strong need to develop

this project into a business that cannot only sustain itself but can also create great wealth among

farmers.

2. Since this is a project, not focused on beekeeping only, it is very difficult to see how it will

continue after the expiry of UNDP support. To date they do not have a business plan, or

strategic plan, and this is risky as the organisation lacks focus on what it plans to do and how

they will do it. They have the NGO approach of “help the community”.

2.2.4 RECO INDUSTRIES (U) LTD, KASESE DISTRICT

Reco is one of the biggest companies in agro-processing in Uganda and has sixteen lines of

products; honey packing is one of the smallest of the Reco enterprises. The assessment team spoke

to Mr. Alex Kisembo, the Project Manager. Mr Kisembo gave an account of their honey-packing

project.

Reco has been selling their brand of honey, Pearls Honey, for over 25 years now. They are only in

honey, not other bee products. The Reco honey factory located in Kasese district needs a minimum

quantity of honey, ideally, 10 tonnes a month. Honey is bought from individual suppliers who can

sell 500 kg and more. Every jerry can is checked using refractometer before it is bought.

Reco indicated that working directly with producers ensures that farmers get more income from

their honey but the question of quality and trust-worthiness of the producers needs to be addressed

for this strategy to work – adding that Reco is not embracing this strategy now. Historically, Reco

had arrangements with farmers in Kasese district under which they gave farmers hives and other

support towards production. Unfortunately, the farmers sold the honey to someone else so they

discontinued this arrangement. At this point, the company decided to start buying honey from

individual suppliers from Arua, Arua Park and other places. However, honey supply is not

consistent. Arua Park traders used to trade in honey. Now they pack honey and sell it in their own

names. This leads to scarcity of bulk honey. In addition, producers of bee products are packing

their own honey and selling less to other packers.

For example in 2006, there was not enough honey. In the “old” days, their known traders / agents

would deliver honey to their door in Kampala. Now Alex has to go to the source – especially Arua,

but he still does not get enough honey. In 2006, he went to Dar es Salaam. There was not much

honey. He has been to Yei in Southern Sudan as well. It is however not clear why there was


25

scarcity of honey in 2006. The scarcity of honey causes a lot of variation in prices. When there is

scarcity, a kilo goes for UGX 3700; this year, Reco is buying honey from Tanzania at UGX 2800 a

kilo, and a 27kg jerry can of Arua honey at UGX 80,000-85,000 (in Kampala, not Arua).

Since February 2007, substantial quantities of honey became available. Since that time, he has 2

tonnes from Arua and 9 tonnes of liquid honey from northern Tanzania. The honey from Tanzania

is better and cleaner than from Arua (liquid). From Tanzania, the supply of honey is consistent –

suppliers there are well organised.

Reco packs in glass jars and squeeze teddy bears. Packaging materials are imported from Kenya

and India. Reco supplies major supermarkets and big shops in Kampala and other major towns in

Uganda. Pearl honey is one of the most popular brands in Uganda. Reco believes that the domestic

market is insatiable; there is no need to think of export until they can get big volumes and reliable

suppliers. Had the supply kept as consistent as in the past, Reco could have started exporting. Each

squeeze teddy bear pack of 275g sells at UGX 5000. It is interesting that Reco honey is the most

expensive even in up-country towns. For example, in Arua town one supermarket sells glass-

packed 500g of Pearls honey at UGX 6500, while the same supermarket sells plastic-packed 500g

jar of Bee Natural honey at UGX 3500.

Reco honey has all the certifications (ISO 9001, BVQI; and UNBS). This, together with glass

packaging, seems to be a strong selling point for Reco.

Reco indicated that producers in Tanzania and Rwanda are better organised which is why they can

produce more honey; that Ugandan producers are “too much small scale” and that is, in their

opinion, another reason for honey shortage.


1. Not interested in exporting as the local market is insatiable

2. The strength of Reco lies in packaging in unique packaging materials: glass and teddy bear

packs; they also ride high on their ISO certification and UNBS certification of their honey and

their production systems.

3. Reco is interested only in buying and selling honey and not necessarily working with the

producer groups of honey.

2.2.5 MALAIKA HONEY LTD / HIVES SAVE LIVES, KAMPALA DISTRICT

Malaika Honey (MH) is a limited company. It works closely with Hives Save Lives Africa, a

charitable organisation that gives farmers hives on loan and encourages them to produce honey and

bee products for the market.

In addition to buying honey from HSL farmers, MH also buys honey from other farmers, packs and

sells in supermarkets and other shops under their own brand. They also produce and market the

well branded Malaika Propolis, available in pharmacies. It advertises also in newspapers and

billboards in Kampala. Simon Turner, Director of MH recognizes that suppliers need information.

Information can be disseminated by post or radio but doubts either would be effective. He however

says that a newsletter would good way to disseminate information.

MH indicated that it exported some honey to USA early 2007. They mentioned that they were not

impressed with the help received from UEPB concerning their honey export; that UEPB did not

really have the necessary information readily available.

MH packs and sells about 1 tonne of honey a month (May 2007). It was reported that there was no

honey from November 2006 to February 2007 anywhere they could reach. The Director said he


26

would buy from the gate if people bring it. He prefers to buy comb honey because he does not trust

village processing. MH pays extra money for good quality honey. MH does not suffer any onward

selling bottlenecks. Mr. Turner believes constant communication with producers is necessary –

they must see you to trust you.

On their part, HSL are very insistent that producers need help to produce, saying that they have too

many problems at the production level. MH has branded its honey “not tonight honey”; this brand

is popular in the outlets where it is sold. The packaging and labelling are well done.

Observation (derived from respondent and physical observation)

MH is good at marketing and promotion of their products. However, the most limiting factor

observed was supply of honey and propolis, which are their major products. Whereas they are

working closely with HSL, it is still not certain whether they will achieve increased quantities from

HSL farmers.

2.2.6 NATURE PRODUCTS UGANDA LTD, WAKISO DISTRICT

Nature products is a company owned by a sole proprietor. The assessors spoke with the proprietor,

Mr. David Mutengu, who gave an account of his honey business.

Nature Foods sources its honey from Bushenyi, Hoima, Kibale, Nakasongola, Arua and Kamuli

districts. In Nakasongola, the company works closely with the district entomologist while in

Kamuli it works with NAADS office.

Concerning Hoima and Kibale districts, Mutengu is planning a support project but he wanted to do

some research first to see how best this help could be distributed as he recognizes that much help

from donors falls on stony ground. It is not clear why he said such but one suspects that he

understands that it is important to differentiate between “real” beekeepers and “pretend”

beekeepers.

The company can handle an optimum of 2.5 tonnes per week, but actually, with variations, it

handles only about 15 tonnes a year. The supply of honey is quite intermittent.

Concerning Kamuli district, NAADS wants him to place a mini-processing unit in the rural area, as

this would instil confidence in the beekeepers that the project is serious. NAADS will in this case

put in more support to the beekeepers. He wants to develop relationships with suppliers but not

only in one area in case there is poor honey yield there. Some of the prospective groups the

company intends to work with include Hoima Beekeepers Association, Navigators of Development,

Kamuli Beekeepers Association, and a group in Nakasongola. The company pays UGX 2000-2500

per kilo of liquid honey.

Mr. Mutengu confessed that he once let down a group of beekeepers because he did not have any

money to buy all their honey. He says he has also been let down because his suppliers sold to

someone else. He lacks capital to buy many jars or honey at once as the shops to which he sells pay

for the honey only after a month has passed.

Their honey is packed in glass jars of 500g and sold to supermarkets and other shops between UGX

3,000 - 4,000. The glass jars are imported from Kenya. The company has a certificate of analysis

for their honey from UNBS, which it uses to assure their buyers that they meet quality

requirements. This strategy works for them and they do not necessarily require the Q-mark of

UNBS; often UNBS staff visits their pack-house to assess their hygiene and processing operations

and have never had problems with the authorities with regard to quality.

Observations derived from respondent and physical observation


27

• Nature Foods is a prospective growing packer but is struggling with a number of financial,

information and management issues. For instance, the Director indicated that he wants to know

more about markets, suppliers and honey availability, honey blending, different types of honey

and about niche marketing.

• The company is operating a profitable honey business with little capital.

2.2.7 EAST WEST INNOVATIONS LTD, KAMPALA DISTRICT

The company is owned by Lester Leow, a Singaporean who has lived in Uganda for 7 years now.

The company is rather small, and sells other small gift products and snack foods. They have an

office and shop in Kananga, Kampala from where they sell their products.

EWIL has its own apiary in Bonga and has a relationship with farmers in Bushenyi, Masindi and

Lira districts. These farmers sell all their honey to EWIL. The honey is produced from log, mud,

bark hives as well as top-bar hives. According to Lester, the company has respect for local style

hives, which farmers easily obtain. “Switching to top bar is a paradigm shift too big for some

beekeepers”, Lester says. “Also if the box hives are badly made the bees are not happy and

therefore become difficult to handle”, he adds. Probably more than 50% of EWIL’s honey comes

from log hives.

It is interesting to learn that Lester is a beekeeper himself. Using his skills and knowledge in

beekeeping, Lester helps his producers do better. However through training their production has

gone up e.g. he has taught them how to leave some honey for the bees in the hives at harvest and

this has reduced the incidence of absconding.

EWIL works with 40 individuals – they are not in an association. Before Lester came these farmers

sold honey locally, ate, or destroyed excess honey. Each farmer produces between 200 – 1000 kg

of honey per year, almost entirely for sale to his company. One of his suppliers, a lady in Masindi

districts, has 200 log hives and she is one of his biggest suppliers.

Lester has a database of all his farmers and knows what they can produce (so he can know if they

have sold to someone else). He has all their details. If the beekeeper is a woman, he must give the

money to the woman and not to the husband. He supervises most of his producers. He tells them to

put the good honeycomb in clean buckets and that is what he buys. He does not trust village

processing, saying that farmers often put ripe with unripe honey. His maximum price for comb

honey is UGX 2000 per kg from farm gate but often pays less. He has a collection centre in

Bushenyi district.

EWIL packs honey in 500g glass jars, under the brand name “little honey man”, well labelled. This

brand is one of the fastest selling and popular brands at the outlets that sell them. The price of this

brand is also one of the highest.

EWIL reported that there is more than enough market for everyone: that the market is not a problem

but product is. Their average annual sale of honey is about 5 tonnes per year (some of this Lester

produces himself). EWIL does not see a big need to export honey, although it exports honey in

“gift hut packages” to Switzerland.

He has a good relationship with his customers Shoprite, Serena Kampala hotel and duty free Shop

at Entebbe International Airport. He does not want to sell to other supermarkets in case they sell

at a lower retail price and upset Shoprite, which is one of their most reliable buyers. “People don’t

buy things, they buy people”, he says, adding that using this principle helps him in business.

EWIL does not believe any honey business in Uganda can handle more than 20 tonnes without

compromising on quality – because they would have to buy from local consolidators and not


28

directly oversee the quality assurance procedures of these suppliers. EWIL believes that there is

need to train beekeepers on quality issues and by this, he means honey handling.

Mr. Lester said that some traders send the wrong information about prices and this can distort things

in the field. As EWIL invests a lot in their suppliers, if the latter choose to sell to someone else –

that would be a disaster, but he cannot do anything to stop this happening? He concluded that he

has a Jumbo Jet business – slow to take off, but big. That many actors in the sector have Jump Jet

businesses – quick up and quick down.

EWIL also explains that the 18% Value Added Tax (VAT) levied on honey sold locally in Uganda

is not good for the growth of the sector. That, in case of exports, VAT has no effect. They contend

that if VAT were removed from honey, as is the case with processed milk, there would be better

scope for farmers to earn more money from packers who are willing to pay more to motivate

producers. They also argue that there is no substantial value addition on honey as honey does not

actually require processing compared to other products with VAT applied at the same level.


1. EWIL is one of the most organised honey businesses in Uganda, starting small and keeping

focused in terms of what it wants to achieve.

2. In terms of social dynamics, quality assurance and technology, it manages its supply side

well.

3. Their marketing strategy is good.

2.2.8 KATIKAMU BKA / CHIJOYCE BEEKEEPERS LTD, LUWERO DISTRICT

This group is located in Katikamu County in Luwero District. Joyce Chiguli is a proprietor of the

group / company. In the group, there are five members (4 women, 1 man). She has 30 hives, 22

colonised.

She does kitchen processing and then bottles in 1-litre containers. She sells at Makerere University

– just informally for UGX 8000 a litre. To others she sells for UGX 5000. Their total production

per year is about 40 litres. She complained that she gets many study tours (she is near the road and

near Kampala), they disturb her bees, and after they go, the bees drink the honey.

2.2.9 AMURIA APIARIES (U) LTD, AMURIA DISTRICT

Amuria Apiaries (AAL) is located in Ajong village, Ocioca parish Murungatuny Sub County,

Amuria district. The project started in 2003 and got involved in beekeeping as well as mango

growing, orange growing and Aloe vera among others. It is a registered Community Based

organisation (CBO) at the district; they are also registered as a limited liability company.

It obtained 210 frame hives as a loan product from DFCU bank. The project has its own apiary of

eight frame hives well managed, all colonised, 50 meters from the home of the proprietor, Mr. Jones

Oluma. The rest of hives were given to 40 contracted farmers who were to produce for AAL.

However, 142 hives were destroyed during the insurgency of Kony’s Lord Resistance Army rebels.

This left only 70 hives that are remaining to date. Many farmers who received hives under the

project for Internally Displaced Peoples Camps (IDPs) then abandoned the project. Only few

members are now actively involved.

Before the incursion of the rebels, the farmers had received one training session from the major

supplier of equipment, Apiprodex (U) Ltd. (It is important to note that some of the hives were

supplied by African Beekeepers Ltd). Apiprodex (U) Ltd had an interim arrangement with the

project in which a technical staff of the company would help in harvesting honey while coaching


29

the project members at the same time. Unfortunately, this officer died in April 2007, leaving all the

hives un-harvested for the past 6 months; this greatly threatens the future of the project.

Honey is collected from members and consolidated at their collecting centre in Amuria. By the

time of the assessment, the association had its’ own hand operated honey extractor and equipment

adequate for packing and labelling. However, packing is still done from the Kampala office, in

500g plastic jars. The reason for packing from Kampala is that it is easier to handle the product in

airtight buckets and transporting it to Kampala for packing, than packing in 500g from Amuria.

The product is labelled Amuria Apiaries beekeepers and sold in supermarkets in Soroti, and

Uchumi supermarket in Kampala. The retail price of the 500g jar of honey is UGX 5,000. In 2006,

only about 40 kg of honey was harvested from AAL project for packing.

Amuria honey was tested and a certificate of analysis was issued by Chemiphar laboratories, the

only laboratory in Uganda accredited by the EU to analyze honey for export. This certificate is

proof of quality compliance and the product is accepted by the supermarkets on that basis.

Amuria honeys are also preferred for its unique flavour and golden light colour. The golden colour

seems to be related to the source of nectar source, which is shea-nut butter trees, locally known as

akunguru. Amuria is lies within the shea nut belt of Africa and shea nut trees are known to produce

a high quality honey, golden in colour.


1. The project is well organised, has a business focus and good strategy

2. The project lacks technical expertise in harvesting and has no clear plans of recruiting staff

to support farmers on this issue. There is need to have a full-time committed staff to run the

project.

3. The beekeeping activity generally was affected by rebel insurgency that characterized the

area in 2003 and 2004. This insurgency is over and the peace being enjoyed in Amuria to

date could contribute to the success of the project

2.2.10 BEE NATURAL PRODUCTS (U) LTD, ARUA DISTRICT

Bee Natural Products (BNP) is a private company established in 2002. The vision of the company

is: To be a world-class producer of 100% natural and organic honey and other products. Their

underpinning philosophy: To provide products of only the highest quality as a representation of the

company’s brand values in order to achieve the highest price for the product.

In 2002, the company started processing honey using a hand comb honey press. To date, it has

installed a processing plant with an annual capacity of 600 tonnes in Ediofe Mission, Arua town.

However, it handles less than 100 tonnes of honey per year, which is 20% of the established

capacity of the factory.

Currently, 120 farmer groups in the West Nile region are accessing advisory services, so-called

‘modern’ hives (top-bar and frame), harvesting gear and honey extraction equipment from BNP.

Under this partnership, it is hoped increased honey production and increased incomes can be

achieved in the region. BNP is currently working with over 2,700 farmers in the West Nile districts

of Arua, Moyo, Yumbe, Nebbi and Koboko. Other areas from where it sources products include

north-eastern Congo, eastern and northern Uganda. It employs its staff to harvest the honey for the

registered members groups.

To ensure consistence in the supply of the products to meet contractual obligations and revenue

targets of the company, BNP put in place specific measures such as:


30

• Identification of areas in the East African community from where to purchase honey during the

semi-peak and off peak seasons in Uganda,

• Training farmers to increase productivity of farmer groups who supply the company.

BNP has limited capacity to reach all districts in the region; however, it has built a partnership with

NAADS as a service provider to train beekeepers in hive management and management of bee

products.

BNP is addressing the issue of low honey production through its programme of bee colony division

and queen bee rearing and has plans to facilitate honey producers with different hive types. BNP

needs to develop more partners in the region who can assist in mobilizing farmers in all districts.

While NAADS is an effective partner with BNP, they do not operate in the whole region leaving

many producers without assistance. However, not all these farmers sell their honey to BNP for

reasons not yet established by BNP management. If the relationship of BNP and its associations is

streamlined, the production and trade of honey will be rationalized.

BNP sells UNBS certified honey in Ugandan supermarkets branded “Bee natural products” and

accounts for much of the honey consumed in Uganda (BNP honey is found on the shelves of most

Uganda big supermarkets). Market access to Kenya has also been achieved. The company has now

embarked on certification processes to sell its products to European markets under Organic and Fair

Trade labels.


1. Management of social dynamics of the honey producers in West Nile is still a problem.

This is evidenced by the refusal by some groups to sell to BNP, with a subsequent closure of

buying centres in Moyo and Adjumani districts.

2. Financing honey purchase is another problem that stands out at BNP as many producers

have stopped selling to the company, saying that their honey is normally taken on credit and

at a low price.

3. BNP is the only company striving hard for the export market. It has the greatest capacity in

terms of production and packing (capacity for 600 tonnes), is pursuing organic and fair trade

certification, and is further enhancing its capacity to sell to the niche honey market segment

in Europe.

2.2.11 KAMWENGE BEEKEEPERS COOPERATIVES SAVINGS AND CREDIT SOCIETY (KABECOS),

KAMWENGE DISTRICT

KABECOS started in 2004 with 32 members in five sub counties and participating in beekeeping,

tree planting and pineapple production. All the original members (100%) were beekeepers already.

To date, only 40% of the total memberships were practicing beekeeping before joining the group

and the 60% are members who never practiced beekeeping before joining the coop. The coop is

registered at the district level and Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA) as a cooperative society.

The membership of KABECOS has risen to 392 beekeepers (2007) in nine sub counties. The

strategy is that in each village there are two beekeepers with at least 100 hives. They have an MoU

with UWA under which they set up some apiaries in Kibale National Park.

KABECOS reports that the number of registered hives for the district is 427 frame hives (but only

12 are colonized), 8007 local style hives and top-bar hives (of which 5776 are colonized); these

hives were provided by Uganda Cooperative Alliance and IFAD while others were bought by

members themselves.


31

Members of the cooperative sell chunk honey to the coop’s collecting and processing centre on

cash-on-delivery basis. Each kilo of honey from top-bar and local style hives is bought at UGX

2,500; and from frame hives at UGX 4,000. (The disparity of the prices is said to be because honey

from frame hives is of superior quality over honey from top-bar or local style hives.) The honey

collected is then extracted at the centre. The centre has a centrifugal honey extractor that was

donated to them by the district under the District Development Strategic Program (DDSP).

Honey is packed in various size jars of 250g, 300g, and 500g as well as in 5-litre jerry cans and

labelled as KABECOS honey. The packaging materials and labels are provided under the support

of IFAD. The price of honey is set according to the price of other honeys packed by other packers

and varies with the buyer; e.g. UGX 2,500 per 500g pack of liquid honey (factory/wholesale price);

UGX 3,000 per 500g pack outside factory; UGX 3,500 per 500g pack retail. The monthly turnover

of honey of the coop was reported to be 488kg.

The coop sells its honey in supermarkets in Kamwenge, Ibanda and (Kyengera) Wakiso districts.

They would wish to sell to Kampala and other towns but are deterred by the fact that they do not

have their product analyzed yet by Uganda National Bureau of Standards. They still fear that

buyers in Kampala may not accept such a product without UNBS certificate or Q-mark. Yet, they

do not know what it takes someone to get their products analysed to obtain “permission” to sell in

Kampala. Besides working with IFAD, Uganda Cooperative Alliance and district local

government, Area Agriculture Marketing Program, KABECOS collaborates with Kabarole Private

Sector Consulting and Development Centre that supports their training programmes for beekeepers

and board members.

In addition to honey, KABECOS produces beeswax, which is sold to Nyalubale Beekeepers Ltd,

1kg at UGX 10,000. They also have a SACCO established in February 2005 (reg. no 7258). The

SACCO loans money to members at 2% interest rate with a grace period of 6 months and

repayment period of 6 months. Here, beekeepers are encouraged to open up accounts to enable

them borrow and save their money with the institution.

The money used to run KABECOS activities is raised from membership and sales of products;

membership is such that organisation s pay UGX 65,000 each and individuals pay UGX 51,000

each. The day-to-day management of KABECOS is vested in a team of three staff: the director,

trainer and office assistant. They guide the organisation towards the implementation of their 5 year

Business Plan (2004- 2009) developed in 2004. The coop participated in one exhibition in 2005 at

the district on the World Health Organisation Day. It is also planning to participate in the

November 2007 CHOGM exhibition in Kampala.


• KABECOS honey is not certified by UNBS and this is the only deterrent preventing the coop

from venturing into Kampala. This is a proof of quality consciousness but also lack of

knowledge of the process of getting UNBS certification. This limits sale of the honey to

Kamwenge and a few surrounding districts.

• The coop understands the need for quality assurance, financial credit for production,

management issues and the need to run their project on purely business principles. The small

size of staff seems to be the major limiting factor for them to deal with other issues e.g. quality

assurance process, market expansion, etc

2.2.12 CONNOISSEUR HONEY COOPERATIVE SOCIETY, BUSHENYI DISTRICT


32

This is farmers’ cooperative formed in 1997. Members are shareholders of the coop. Members,

now totalling 360, are located in Mbarara, Bushenyi, Ntungamu, Rukungiri and Kiruhura districts.

Normally, farmers deliver their products to the buying centre located near Bushenyi town and this

arrangement makes up 80% of the total volume purchased while 20% of the honey handled is

picked by the project from the farmer’s nearest designated collection point. Farmers are well

trained and equipped to extract own honey so they sell to the collection centre. They sell to no

other buyer except the coop.

The coop trains farmers in beekeeping, making beekeeping equipment, post handling of honey and

other bee products. It buys only liquid honey from members on cash basis at UGX 4,000 per kg; it

also buys from non-members cash at the same price. In some cases however, when cash is not

available, farmers are paid about 50% as down payment on delivery of their products; the balance is

then paid on instalment` basis over an agreed period. Before buying, the honey is tested using a

hand refractometer.

The plastic jars and airtight buckets are bought from Afro-plastics industry while the labels from

quick colour print in Kampala and the boxes from Mailbox Jinja. The honey and other hive

products are marketed in Mbarara, Kampala supermarkets as well as to local consumers. Honey is

packed at a collection centre and sold as follows:

Table 4 Connoisseur Honey Cooperative Society honey prices

Pack Price (UGX)

175g 1,000

203g 1,500

216g 1,700

350g 2,700

500g 3,000

1800g 12,000

Farmers also process beeswax themselves and sell to the cooperative, a kilo at UGX 6000.

Connoisseur, together with the beekeepers run a revolving fund to ensure that low income

beekeepers can access loans to buy hives, while those with excess savings are encouraged to save.

The coop acquired a piece of land in Bushenyi town on which they constructed a big permanent

structure that houses the project. They also acquired a pick-up truck that is used to collect honey

from the field and to aid the movement of project staff in general.


• The coop is generally successful as can be seen by the assets they have acquired over the last 10

years and the organisational structure that facilitates their work.

• The fact that the coop buys only liquid honey from the associations indicates that the beekeepers

have been fully trained in honey handling and quality assurance. Honey is bought at one price –

there is no price discrimination between honeys harvested from top bar, local and frame hives.

This means the coop trusts the quality of their farmers.

• Connoisseur honey seems to be one of the most popular and most widely distributed brands in

Kampala and other major towns in Kampala.

• The coop does not have enough working capital to purchase all the honey, cash on delivery, at

all times and this means that they pay on an instalment basis. Whereas this could be a


33

disincentive for small-scale producers to sell to Connoisseur, the farmers seem to be satisfied

with the arrangement as both parties agree and deliver on their promises.

2.2.13 SYDA BBUMBA COMPANY LIMITED (SIBUCO), NAKASEKE DISTRICT

SIBUCO beekeeping project is located in Kowoko village, Nakaseke district. It is one of the

several enterprises on a two square kilometres piece of land; other enterprises are piggery, poultry,

pineapple, fisheries, and cassava growing, maize farming and others.

The apiculture enterprise is located on two apiaries situated at different locations within the farm.

Only one location was visited at the time of this assessment and was observed to be mainly

composed of frame hives interspersed among local style and top-bar hives, all totalling to 100. The

second apiary has over 200 hives.

SIBUCO has set up a resource centre from where it conducts training programmes for members in

the community on beekeeping, and making hives. The company packs honey produced in its’ own

apiaries but also buys honey from other beekeepers in the community. The honey is packed in

plastic jars (250g and 500g), branded in the name SIBUCO and sold in Luwero, Kampala and other

towns.

It was impossible for the assessment team to establish the farm gate price offered by the company to

the producers in the community as the Farm Manager indicated that this information is only

available with the Director. Other information about the project was not available for the same

reason.

2.3 DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATIONS

2.3.1 THE NETHERLANDS DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (SNV- UGANDA

SNV is a Netherlands International Development Organisation that mobilizes expertise in Africa,

Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe and makes this expertise available in flexible ways. They

deliver advisory services to develop and share knowledge and expertise with local organisation s,

with the goal of making them better equipped for their work in poverty alleviation among women

and men.

SNV has been working in Uganda since 1989. At present SNV-Uganda has a regional

representation in West Nile, Western Uganda (SNV Ruwenzori), Luwero Triangle and Karamoja in

the thematic areas of local governance, private sector development and water and environmental

sanitation (WES). In WES sector SNV supports the technical support Unit (TSU) of the Directorate

of Water Development (DWD).

The West Nile and Ruwenzori SNV portfolios were visited. The West Nile SNV portfolio

specializes in apiculture development as a major support activity while that of Ruwenzori is

focusing on maize production and marketing for sustainable development.

The activities involved in west Nile include provision of capacity building services to associations

and individuals. The chairperson of the Yumbe district farmers association was (at the time of the

assessment) preparing a business plan under the guidance and supervision of SNV.

SNV has put in place an open forum, initiated in December 2006 to foster learning and sharing from

all the different stakeholders in the Grains, Oil Seed and the Apiculture industry. This is aimed at

strengthening existing relationships and building new ones within the sectors. This will foster

partnerships through coordination, collaboration and consolidation of initiatives within each sub-

sector and thus create synergy in development and avoids duplication.


34

SNV has since facilitated such forums and TUNADO has been involved in the discussion

concerning the apiculture sector. The participants include NGO representatives, producer

organisation members, government personnel, business community and other stakeholders in the

apiculture sector.

2.4 TRAINING AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS

2.4.1 BUNYORO DISTRICT FARM INSTITUTE BULINDI/NATIONAL AGRICULTURE RESEARCH

ORGANISATION (NARO)

This research station is located in Hoima district and presently houses Bulindi Farm Institute, a

demonstration apiary of the district beekeeping activities and honey collection centre.

Bulindi beekeeping demonstration apiary is situated in a suitable area bordered by Calliandra

callothyrsis trees. These were reported to be ready sources of bee forage. There is also a bee house

(this is recommended for areas where land is extremely scarce or where bees are to be handled

closely, like in the queen rearing technique).

The research centre also houses Bulindi honey collection centre, established to serve the members

of Hoima Beekeepers’ Association (HBA). HBA, although having an office building, does not

have a committed membership base. Members do not pay membership fees or subscription. This

poor arrangement has prompted the local government (production department), in close

collaboration with NAADS, to take over the management of the honey collection centre until such a

time when HBA is organised and can manage the centre sustainably. Meanwhile, HBA

management is uncomfortable with this move and believes that they are being unfairly robbed by

some interests.

The equipment for the centre was donated by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural

Development) and ICIPE (International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology) Kenya. The

collecting centre is run by two local government employees who buy, process, and pack the honey

branded “Eco-honey Pure Uganda natural honey”. Money for purchasing honey comes from

NAADS. According to the farmers, this centre is providing farmers a ready market for bee

products. Labels are made from Hoima town. Honey is sold to Hoima town and other surrounding

towns.

It was reported at the time of the assessment that the centre had received 2,104 kg of comb honey

since March 2007. The honey is purchased on cash-on-delivery basis. The centre has no business

plan and this is risky as it may prove to be an “aid project” without a business focus.

2.4.2 NYABYEYA FORESTRY INSTITUTE, MASINDI DISTRICT

The institution is part of Makerere University, Faculty of Forestry and is a field and research station

for forestry activities. It has an apiculture department for research, beekeeping, and tree

biodiversity conservation.

The institution started to offer certificate in beekeeping in 2002 and since then many students have

received such training. It is also envisaged that soon it will start diploma courses in apiculture.

For demonstration and research purposes, the institute set up an apiary in a plantation of Calliandra

callothyrsis trees. A combination of frame and top-bar hives was sited and a bee house located.

However, some of the hives were stolen. Later, MS Uganda, a Danish charitable organisation

began to support the activities of the project. The contributions of MS ranged from building the

apiary house and sitting hives in it; transporting students (studying beekeeping) from the institution

to other places to facilitate learning; setting up a packing unit for honey and other bee products; and

promoting research in queen rearing and colony multiplication.


35

The corroboration above led to facilities being put in place. However, these facilities have been

very poorly managed and most of them are either dysfunctional or completely destroyed. For

instance, all the hives in the apiary house have been eaten by termites and most of the hives in the

Calliandra plantation are damaged or empty. The apiary house itself is nearly all destroyed by

termites and almost 40% of the house space is occupied by an anthill. In addition, the packing unit

is full of filth and there is no sign of honey packing going on even when the honey season is on!

Yet honey produced from the College’s apiary and / or bought from the neighbouring communities

was processed and packed in plastic jars and marketed throughout Uganda. The brand name was

Nyabeya forestry college original honey.


• The lack of commitment of the management of the College to the beekeeping project seems to

have been the major cause for the collapse of this project. It was reported that the funds

generated from the honey sales went into the main pool of funds of the College but was not

ploughed back to run the project. In many instances, there would be need for funds to do

project work but these funds were not available due to the bureaucratic procedures.

• The establishment of the project was based purely on donor support and was never built on

business principles. The College had all the necessary ingredients for success but failed to

integrate them into a business model to ensure sustainability after MS Uganda pulled out.

2.4.3 NAKASONGOLA APICULTURE TRAINING CENTRE

This centre is run by Uganda Honey Beekeepers Association (UHA). It is situated on a 60 acre of

land leased to them by government. Since 1997, the centre started training beekeepers as well as

beekeeping groups in beekeeping technology and has since been recognized by Ministry of

Education and Sports for the above.

It offers training courses in beekeeping as follows:

• 2 years Certificate course in beekeeping for students admitted with Uganda Certificate of

Education;

• 3 years Junior Certificate course in beekeeping for students admitted with Certificate of Primary

Leaving Examinations;

• 3 weeks Certificate of Training-of-Trainers in beekeeping for entomology officers and other

beekeeping practitioners;

• 2-3 years Diploma Course in Beekeeping next academic year (2008).

In addition, the centre runs other certificate training courses in tailoring, carpentry and joinery,

metalwork and, in the near future, computer science.

Demonstration apiaries are established at the centre on which various technologies are shown. The

technologies demonstrated here cover types of hives, harvesting technologies, queen breeding, and

colony multiplication, among others.

The centre also packs and sells honey harvested from its demonstration apiary but the quantities are

usually small.


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3 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 VOLUME OF BEE PRODUCTS ACCESSIBLE TO PACKERS

Packers and buyers reported that they had difficulty sourcing adequate supplies of honey. This was

reported by buyers such as BNP, Reco and Malaika. Whereas this has generally been put down to

“low production”, the survey shows that low production is just one of the causes of low volumes or

low supply; the other prominent causes are: poor organisation of beekeepers, poor connections

between producers and buyers, poor mobilization of products, high demand for bee products and the

low motivation of beekeepers to invest in increased production. These various causes of low supply

are discussed here.

3.1.1 SUPPLY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

Mobilizing large volumes of bee products is still a problem for many packers even when the honey

is available. The survey reveals that in many cases, there is honey available with producers who are

willing to sell. However, the producers would be unwilling to sell to particular buyers / packers.

This may be causes by weaknesses among packers or buyers to manage the social dynamics of their

suppliers – whether groups or individuals. The packers often fail to convince producers to stick

together under their organisational structures to benefit from economies of scale. The producers

then choose to sell to opportunistic buyers who may not even have enough money to buy all their

products and, at times, are only “one-time buyers”.

Beekeepers are often not well organised, they lack proper leadership structures and therefore do not

consolidate their products for price negotiations and bulk sale. For example, Hoima BKA is an

example of an association that exists but appears to offer no useful service, in terms of collective

marketing, to members.

Beekeepers are scattered in rural villages and without common bulking or processing facilities.

Furthermore, due to their geographical spread the question of transport, coupled with the poor state

of rural roads, becomes a key issue especially on the side of the buyer. This was noted as a problem

by associations as well, such as Moyo BKA and Nebbi BKA. This creates supply problems for

buyers. Buyers often have limited cash to purchase all the products of their would-be loyal

suppliers. The tendency then is to take the products on credit, an arrangement with which most

producers are not comfortable. KABECOS, Moyo BKA, Nature Products and others all reported an

inability to buy all honey available to them at certain times of year because of lack of finance.

Producers do not always honour their “agreements” with the buyers, opting to sell cash-on-delivery

to “freelance” buyers. For example, RECO once developed a relationship with some beekeepers,

who then sold honey elsewhere. The reason for this is that beekeepers are enticed either either by

higher prices or quicker payments by others, or the benefits of loyalty to the agreed buyer are not

apparent.

3.1.2 GROWTH OF SMALL SCALE PACKERS

There are an increasing number of packers of bee products in Uganda and some producers and

traders are choosing to pack honey themselves rather than sell on in bulk to larger packers. This is

occurring even when quantities are small and packing may be economically unviable. This means

larger packers find it difficult to access large volumes in bulk and this increases their overheads as

they are forced to buy small quantities from many suppliers. This in turn makes it difficult for them

to recoup their investment in larger packing facilities. Competition is good for prices at the farm

gate but the overall consequences for the industry and growth of the industry are not good. For

example, as producers earn more from packing honey than producing honey they have a reduced


37

incentive to produce honey in greater quantities. This may be having the effect of creating a “glass

ceiling”, which is keeping overall honey volumes low.

The reason for this situation is partly that honey packing is an “easy” business. Honey has a market

at many different market levels and because only minimal processing and packing is required, it is

relatively easy for low capital businesses to engage in honey processing and packing. This is

different from e.g. coffee (export only), cotton (need ginning factory), firewood (low value/high

transport cost therefore only suitable for local markets). In the case of honey, it is probably true that

local markets must become saturated before it is more commercially viable to sell into markets that

are more distant. This has not yet happened in Uganda.

Other factors, which encourage small-scale packing businesses, include:

• many customers are not discerning about whether honey is packed in an UNBS approved facility or

not

• honey production is not profitable enough, therefore producers are seeking to make money in

packing instead (see later on profitability of honey production)

• some development interventions are deliberately supporting small scale packing businesses as a

income generating activity for community

The question about the structure of the apiculture industry is open to discussion and may or may not

be a policy issue. However, it is important for those who are promoting the industry to understand

the consequences of external development interventions on the wider industry.

3.1.3 LACK OF COMMERCIALIZATION OF HONEY PRODUCTION

There is considerable focus on price per kg at the farm gate and kg produced per hive. For

example, these statistics were often given by informants during the survey. However, there is

almost total neglect of two other statistics, which are “profitability” and “total income earned per

beekeeper per year”. Both must be positive to create an incentive to invest more in beekeeping.

During the survey, no informant gave any data on the profitability of beekeeping or total income

earned by a beekeeper.

Attention to profitability of any apiary (frame, local or top-bar) might reveal that some production

combinations are unprofitable i.e. costs are exceeding income. This is creating a downward

incentive on some beekeepers to invest more. The beekeeper may not have done the profit margin

calculations but they have “instinctively” come to learn they are not making a profit and lose

interest.

For example at KCSCS, one beekeeper mentioned that the price of honey was too low and he

thought that selling further afield might achieve a higher price. In fact, it was likely that he was

being forced to think about a higher price – perhaps over and above the market price – because in

his case the business he had entered into relied on the purchase of very expensive frame hives,

costing UGX 150,000 each. The high costs of production were forcing him into unrealistic

expectations concerning price, which, in any market, he was unlikely to achieve.

Supply of honey to the market is being constrained because at household level some beekeepers are

not making a profit and not making enough money, this is reducing their incentive to invest in

production.

3.1.4 HONEY BEE COLONY MANAGEMENT

Low production of bee products in Uganda is attributed to a number of factors that are discussed here.

• Poor apiary management


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It is common to find poorly sited hives, apiaries sited in bushes and not protected from wild fires,

apiaries not checked for long periods, animals and insects (e.g. wasps, black ants, lizards, rats,

snakes, etc) nesting inside hives; hives fallen on the ground. For example, the Chairperson of

Bulmezi Beekeepers had bought a number of frame hives, but they were all empty because the

hives were badly made and she had no knowledge concerning their proper use.

• Improper choice of beekeeping equipment.

In many instances, there is inappropriate equipment-skill-knowledge combination, whereby

beekeepers are advised to choose particular hives with the promise that they will get more honey

and of higher quality. However, they are not sufficiently trained in the skills and knowledge

commensurate with the technology e.g. they may not harvest honey from the hives, they may

harvest comb honey from frame hives (because they do not have the centrifugal extractor to extract

liquid honey).

For example, the Chairperson of Busiriba Beekeeping Group owned local style, top-bar and frame

hives. Whilst he successfully produced honey from the top-bar and local hives, he could not harvest

his frames because he had no access to a centrifuge.

• Hives are not harvested

It seems there is a “bee-sting stigma” among beekeepers, especially beginners. For example,

informants from SODIFA reported this to be the case within their organisation.

• Reduction of natural vegetation

Lack of bee forage and habitat for colonies, and deforestation, caused by many factors.

3.2 PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATION

There is limited development and diversification of bee products other than honey. Whereas

beeswax harvest has increased in the recent past, it is mainly used for bee baiting, making wax

foundation, and making candles, and is not yet commercialised.

A recent survey by NOGAMU (reference Bosco) showed that the profitability of beeswax for

export is about 11 times more than for honey. This shows that producers and packers of beeswax

could earn more if they specialized. Even in the domestic market, packers indicate that it is easier

and more profitable to sell beeswax than it is for honey.

This also raises a question as to why some honey buyers e.g. KABECOS, AME, pay less for chunk

honey (wax and honey), than for liquid honey (no wax). Wax is a more valuable product than

honey (price per Kg) and buyers should prefer to have it than not. This is an anomaly, caused by

the fact that some buyers do not capitalise on the full value of wax, although the extra processing

costs are also a factor. The production and trade in propolis is also slowly increasing. Malaika

Honey is popularizing the use of propolis and its derivatives in pharmacies in Kampala and other

major towns. They run promotions using national daily print media (Daily Monitor and The New

Vision: both English; and Bukedde in Luganda) and using highway billboards. Among the smaller

producers and packers however, processing propolis is still not undertaken on a serious level.

3.3 PROCESSING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

Currently honey processing and handling methods employed by some beekeepers is compromising

the final quality of honey, thus their bargaining power for better farm gate prices. In cases where

farmers have been sufficiently trained however, they are able to process their own bee products and

obtain a high quality no matter the type of hives used. This is the case with Connoisseur honey

whose farmers process and sell liquid honey at the same price – whether from local style hives, top-

bar hives or frame hives.


39

Producers still need to be sensitized on the ‘dos and don’ts of handling honey and other bee

products’. This would be a long-lasting solution to the problem. In the interim, establishing

common processing facilities can avert the incidences of compromising the quality of honey

produced by smallholder producers. In Kazo, Kiruhura district for example, some producers

reported that they had honey but never had processing equipment to extract liquid honey neither did

they have materials for the clean storage of honey. This is because the equipment required is

expensive and not readily available even when the producers have the capacity to purchase.

Mr Lesster Leow, EWIL, made the point that honey quality is all about honey handling. The honey

as it is in the comb is clean and uncontaminated; quality will deteriorate if handled badly as it is

harvested, stored and transported. Some buyers e.g. Lesster Leow, Malaika honey and many others,

prefer to buy comb honey because it has been handled less. Others such as Connoisseur have taken

the trouble to train beekeepers to handle the honey properly and are willing to buy processed clean

honey.

Issues concerning honey quality in Uganda are not significantly difficult. Simple training and

sensitisation about handling and use of proper dedicated buckets and storage containers is all that is

required. This is compared for example to situations where honey quality is compromised because

of medicine residues in the honey. This is not a problem in Uganda.

3.4 MARKETING OF BEE PRODUCTS

Market information flow is still weak; there is no organised and efficient mechanism for the flow of

market information. In cases where information is available, it is skewed away from the producers

who do not have enough information to negotiate and arrange supply agreements with which they

feel happy. They are nervous about being exploited which discourages them and their buyers from

doing better business.

There is very little organised collective marketing. In cases where producers have information

about buyers, their tendency is to sell individually, which negates their power to bargain for better

prices. Whilst this is partly due to the personal home circumstance of the beekeepers; forcing them

to take cash as soon as it is offered, it is also driven by a lack of trust. In most agricultural sectors,

credit arrangements work where there is trust and respect between parties.

The local market is highly fragmented and this is further compounded by the lack of a national

marketing strategy to stimulate the demand for honey. Every producer of bee products wants to

pack and sell and yet they have very limited capacity to sustain the required volumes and quality of

the products.

3.5 FINANCE FOR BEEKEEPING AND HONEY TRADING

Any commercial industry needs to be financed, especially a growing and new industry. Finance in

the beekeeping industry is required for some equipment (e.g. settling tank), consumables (e.g.

buckets, harvesting gear) and working capital (e.g. transport, buying honey, buying jars). The main

actors who need this finance are beekeepers, honey packers (sometimes these are beekeeping

associations) and traders.

Currently the sector is operating on very little finance. This is almost certainly a cause for slow

growth and needs further analysis.

Beekeepers equip themselves to establish a honey-producing apiary in different ways:

• Low cost approaches. Local style beekeeping costs almost nothing, and is adopted by many traditional

beekeepers successfully e.g. many beekeepers supplying Bulindi Packing Centre and EWIL.


40

• Given by a project – e.g. hives have been given by NAADs and NGOs to various groups. This costs

nothing (for the recipient) but raises some questions about sustainability.

• Loans. A typical model is “give a loan, repayment deducted as honey sold”. Related approaches are

adopted by projects e.g. Hives Save Lives, finance institutes e.g. DFCU, beekeeper associations/

SACCOs or sometimes a buyer. DFCU Bank has a special lease product that prioritizes beekeeping but

accessing this product is still limited to clients with sufficient collateral base, and most beekeepers

cannot afford this product

• Purchase e.g. Connoisseur Honey and Mr Kahira Abby said beekeepers are encouraged to use local style

hives that they can afford, to earn enough money to buy new and more expensive equipment when/if

needed.

• Some beekeeping cooperatives are forming their own SACCOS from which their members can access

funds for their projects at a low interest rate. In some cases, beekeepers join SACCOS, which are

willing to sell them shares and therefore enable them to borrow at low interest rates. This approach

seems to be working. For some however, belonging to a SACCO has not helped much as they still fear

the terms of borrowing and repayments even when the interest rates are lower than in the conventional

financial institutions.

Buyers, packers and traders: Whilst larger buyers mentioned that they cannot find adequate supply

to buy e.g. Reco, BNP and Malaika, some beekeeping associations and others said they did not

always have enough money to buy all honey available in the season e.g. Moyo BKA, Nature

Products. For these finance is very important. Overall, it was learnt that few buyers and packers

had well developed financing options and the following was observed.

• Buy on credit. This is largely unacceptable to the beekeepers and causes a downward pressure on

production because point of sale is also an opportunity for beekeepers to buy new hives and other

consumables to increase further production.

• Finance. Very few medium sized buyers mentioned using credit to buy honey, the only one was

Kabarole beekeepers who have a good working relationship with local financial institutions

although this was only mentioned in passing.

• SACCO. A beekeeping SACCO can generate additional working capital for honey purchases. No one

mentioned, or details were not enough to learn, to what extent money generated from a

beekeeping SACCO served as working capital for honey purchases.

• Different model – quick turnover. Another approach, which was also not apparent, is the

deliberate effort to achieve quick turnover in order to free up working capital. This is almost

certainly a viable option for some buyers/ traders, but might mean changing from being a

buyer/packer to buyer/trader.

• Letters of credit, warehouse ticketing, financial products for beekeepers. These approaches are not

developed in the apiculture sector.

When the team visited SNV in Fort Portal a financial consultant advising SNV also supported the

need for finance and made the following observations

• There is a government strategy to provide financial services, but their approach is not subtle

enough – or well designed enough to meet needs of beekeepers.

• The idea is to work with Financial Service Providers (FSPs) to design products just for beekeepers

and deliver these products where the people are e.g. Chausuzi.

• The FSP can then look for more money from elsewhere if needed. The FSP can provide credit

linked to the promise of sales to an identified buyer (in this case KBA).


41

• Something similar to the maize warehouse receipt system was also mentioned.

• Instead of “buyer” borrowing money, involve FSP – to give cash based on “warehouse ticket”.

3.6 TAXATION POLICY ON BEE PRODUCTS

The 18% VAT on honey and other bee products traded in the local market seems to be a

disincentive for some packers to offer higher prices to producers. If VAT were removed, for

instance, the consumer price of honey in the domestic would not be affected; however, 18% extra

worth of value would be available to packers. In this case, the packers would probably be

compelled to give more to producers by buying honey at higher farm gate prices. This alone would

be a motivator for production at the household level.

Packaging materials, e.g. glass jars for honey, are often imported and import taxes are levied,

making them very expensive. This causes an exaggeration of the retail price of packed honey.

Besides, quite often, the custom procedures for clearing imports are bureaucratic and this further

causes inefficiency in business undertaking for packers.

The current arrangement between TUNADO and MAAIF is that any beekeeping materials imported

into the country are exempted from taxes. While some stakeholders benefit from this arrangement,

most would-be beneficiaries are not aware and therefore pay these taxes.

3.7 ATTITUDE TOWARDS BEEKEEPING AS A BUSINESS

Government, NGOS, development partners and lead private sector agencies in Uganda understand

beekeeping to be a viable commercial enterprise, but the implementation of some projects have not

been very successful. In some cases, the interventions have addressed one aspect and not others.

For instance, some interventions have focused on developing the use of frame hives as a

technology, based on the misguided idea that commercialization equates with different technology

rather than focusing on the cost benefit analysis of the business.

In other cases, farmers have taken beekeeping just because “somebody is giving them free hives”

but have not adopted a business attitude to implement the project. It is common to find potentially

viable associations of beekeepers without a strategic plan or business plan, and sometimes without

proper records of their own activities even when they have existed for more than 2 years! For

example, Bugle Apiculture Development association and Soroti Environmental Concerns have no

business plan and AWOC had almost no records of any kind.

It is highly questionable whether frame hive beekeeping can be a successfully commercial business

option for many beekeepers as the costs are so high. There is a very great danger that transforming

successful local style beekeepers into frame-hive beekeepers will have the opposite effect to

commercialisation as with local hives, “one cannot make a loss” and yet with frame hive

beekeeping, the costs quickly reduce potential profits. It would be more cost-effective and

successful to focus support on harvesting and handling of honey from local hives to ensure top

quality honey is offered to the market.

3.8 TECHNICAL EXPERTISE AND SUPPORT FOR BEEKEEPERS

Some problems of low honey supply are caused by low honey production, which in turn is caused

by poor application of correct colony management procedures. High absconding can be prevented

by skilled beekeepers who nurture their colonies using experience and knowledge of bee behaviour

and biology. Many novice beekeepers receive some training but inadequate follow-up and they

simply do not have the knowledge and experience to manage bees productively. There is a very

low number of government extension workers having good knowledge of beekeeping (each of the


42

80 districts of Uganda has a district entomologist but not all have beekeeping expertise and one

person is inadequate for a whole district). Beekeeping expertise is provided by technical people

hired by NAADS or provided in-house by beekeeping associations. The latter arrangement is

probably the most sustainable and effective as even the NAADs provision may not be ongoing and

yet beekeeping must be learnt over several cycles of brood rearing and honey harvesting. This

creates a challenge for beekeeping associations, as employing technical extension staff is expensive.

This in turn adds to their overheads and prevents them from offering the highest prices for honey –

this can further undermine their viability. On the other hand having such a technical person creates

a significant advantage to being a member. Moyo BKA, Kabecos and Mount Elgon Beekeeping

Community all employ their own trainers – although they are over-stretched.

3.9 BEEKEEPING ASSOCIATIONS – STRUCTURES, ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

There are many beekeeping associations. The leadership of the associations seems often vested in

certain individuals who were perhaps responsible for establishing the association in the first place

and remained in the same position. In cases where these individuals are dynamic, capable and are

motivated to promote apicultural development, associations can thrive. In cases where this is not

the case then there is little progress and members see little benefits flowing from membership.

There were few instances of elected leaders, chosen by members.

Overall, very few beekeeping associations are run as businesses. They are not motivated by

collective marketing and do not measure themselves by profits made.

It was learnt that Kabarole Beekeepers has become a company. The major reason for becoming a

company was one of asset ownership and the difficulty of transferring shares. There is no limit to

the number of shares now. They cost UGX 10,000 per share. They will pay a dividend for the first

time this year to shareholders. They have had a problem of member loyalty – which they hope will

be addressed by this. This might be an advisable step for other beekeeping associations to take.

Benefits of membership must be very clear and are usually related to access to market, access to

technical support and/or access to loans or equipment. The question of ownership and benefits

should be clear. For example new member were discouraged from joining SODIFA because they

failed to see who would benefit from collective marketing and they were not clear about ownership.


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4 TEN MAJOR LESSONS LEARNT FOR PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

1 The low supply experienced by the larger buyers and packers is caused by a range of reasons.

Poor identification and analysis of these reasons can lead to the implementation of inappropriate

solutions that have no positive outcome. In addition to poor apicultural expertise, low profits in

some cases lower motivation. Lack of working capital of beekeeping associations means they

cannot always buy all “available” honey at once. Poor trust undermines collective marketing,

essential for creating supply chains of volume.

2 Many beekeeping and honey trade projects are started by NGOs, government and donors and

support is given to producers as “gifts or donations”. Yet, beekeepers do not need hives, they

actually need the motivation to do beekeeping and they can acquire hives on their own.

3 Cooperatives, associations and producer-owned companies are proving to be a successful model

for beekeeping as a business in the rural areas: the farmers own them, set the price, produce, sell,

create revolving funds to support members, and take dividends. Collective marketing is a tool

that can be successfully used to promote trade in bee products among rural communities.

4 Social enterprises approach is a successful model for companies undertaking beekeeping projects,

and this entails investing in supporting producers and building good relationships with them.

5 The domestic market is increasingly expanding and offers a good market for the industry.

Supermarkets have become good outlets for packed honey in Uganda.

6 Beekeeping using the right equipment-skill-knowledge combination is what works; it is not

necessarily true that “frame bee hives are better than local hives” in terms of quality, productivity

or profitability, as many have been made to believe.

7 Honey remains the major product of beekeeping enterprise. The other products, in order of their

presence in the local markets, are beeswax and propolis respectively.

8 Issues concerning honey quality in Uganda are not significantly difficult. Simple training and

sensitisation about handling and use of proper dedicated buckets and storage containers is all

that is required. This is compared for example to situations where honey quality is compromised

because of medicine residues in the honey. This is not a problem in Uganda. Nevertheless, many

small packers still do not know how to obtain UNBS certificate of product analysis and / or Q-

mark to help ensure safety of their product or as a marketing tool.

9 It is likely that the future of technical service provision lies with beekeeping associations

employing their own extension worker to serve members.

10 The issue of finance in the sector is critical to ensure the flow of honey out of the villages does not

stall. Some finance mechanisms are clearly more sustainable and effective than others. The most

significant finance needs are at the medium-sized buyer, packer and trader level and not with the

beekeeper. Beekeepers do, however, currently respond better to being paid cash for their honey.


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5 PROJECT TARGET GROUP SELECTION

The challenges identified in this survey need to be addressed. This will require packers and

producer associations working together to develop functioning supply chains, based on profitable

honey production and profitable honey trading and retail. In this regard, the assessors selected a

small group of beneficiaries i.e. four packers and three producer associations to be supported by the

project to develop their capacity to engage in the honey industry. The packers and producer

associations were also matched as a way of fostering working relationships. The packers selected

are KABECOS (also a producer association), Amuria Apiaries Ltd, Nature Products Ltd and Bee

Natural Products Ltd. The producer associations selected are Ongica Beekeepers’ Association,

Nebbi Beekeepers’ Association, and Nakasongola Beekeepers’ Association.

The selection criteria for beneficiaries were:

Main criteria for producers The main criteria for selection are that the producer group or business has the potential and ambition to grow and cause growth in others. This could be in terms of honey produced; numbers of members of the group, or in terms of giving a positive signal to others that honey production is a viable village-based enterprise. Other criteria

• Located in area with potential to produce honey

• Can already identify a sustainable route to market (i.e. a buyer) which can be developed further

• Not less than 20 members at present (this applies to producer associations)

• Other groups in the area – possibly supplying same market, possibility of higher association, possibility of becoming positive role model for others

• If they have received project support in the past, must receive satisfactory answer to – why need more?

• Group should not be locked into a business model of “doing everything” i.e. producer, processor, packer, retailer. It is considered this model can only be replicated to a limited extent before accessible markets become saturated.

• Poverty alleviation benefits of honey production in the group should be clear Main criteria for packers

• Packers already working with, or have expressed or demonstrated willingness to work with, producer associations to supply them but have remaining challenges

• Packers have demonstrated some good practices in this line of business and have the potential to stimulate more activity in beekeeping in their localities

• Packers that have specialized in packing honey and other bee products and allocate reasonable time to work with other actors in the sector.

• Packers that have demonstrated that honey packing enterprise is beneficial and have succeeded in acquiring fixed assets and continue to earn daily living from the enterprise.

Using these criteria, four respondents were also selected under the resource beneficiary category.

This category comprises of models that could provide learning experiences as they have

demonstrated reasonable level of successes. In this way, the target group can learn good practices

from successful business models. The models here include Connoisseur Honey Cooperative,

SOCADIDO, Kabarole Beekeepers’ Association Ltd and Sihubira Farmers’ Organisation

Cooperative.

5.1 CAPACITY NEEDS OF THE TARGET GROUP

The survey revealed that there is a potential for packers to work with producer associations to

address each other’s challenge. There was therefore need to deliberately pair up and match a packer


45

with a nearby producer association with which they have had a working relationship, or are working

towards it, or have a potential to work together.

This relationship can be extended by the packer to other producer associations and this would foster

the available volume of bee products to the packer while at the same time assuring producer

associations of a market. It would also foster segmentation of the industry in that producer

associations would see a benefit of concentrating on production while packers concentrate on

consolidating, packing and selling the products.

Some of the needs expressed by packers and producers require specific tailor-made training and

consulting services from experts. These training needs however need to be further refined at an

enterprise level. This would result into a “training and consulting need package” for each

beneficiary in the target group. Some of these services could also be provided by experts from the

“models”.


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6 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE WIDER INDUSTRY

6.1 TAXATION POLICIES

There is need to generate sufficient debate about VAT on honey and other bee products sold in the

domestic market. This would lead to a policy initiation process that has a potential of causing

waiver on, or a total removal of, VAT and import tax on beekeeping materials.

6.2 MARKET DEVELOPMENT

A survey conducted under this project (April 2007) revealed that most supermarkets in Kampala

sell only locally produced honey – there was no brand of imported honey in about 50 outlets visited.

This depicts that the domestic market for locally produced honey is fast expanding and imported

honey is being replaced by honey produced in Uganda. However, the quality of the honey on shop

shelves is still low and there is limited variety. For example, there is no speciality honey such as

mono-floral honey, or honey from a special locality. The packaging and labelling of many honey

brands are not of a high standard.

There is need to highlight potentials for product diversification in bee products; and to promote the

three prominent products of the industry – honey, beeswax, and propolis – using avenues available

at the national and international levels.

There is also need to develop and make available simple tools to promote trade in bee products e.g.

• Product profiles for honey, beeswax and propolis produced in Uganda. These would help as

promotional tools for the products both in the local and export markets.

• Tool-kits such as: procedures for exporting honey to the EU, US, Japanese markets,; how to obtain

UNBS certification for hone”, and others

6.3 ROLE OF THE APEX BODY, TUNADO

TUNADO should be strengthened to play its role effectively and efficiently. It should also rally

stakeholders in the industry to embrace a single vision and strategy for apiculture sector in Uganda.

To date, it is very difficult to determine which path the industry should take: whether to promote

many small packers scattered throughout the country or a few large packers who will bulk products

from producers from all parts of the country for onward sale.

TUNADO structure and roles should also be revisited to make it focus on what it can do best. In its

next Annual General Meeting (AGM), the Directors should address key challenges that hamper the

operations of the apex body. TUNADO should therefore lay emphasis on playing the role of

coordination and information sharing.

Deliberate steps should also be made by key stakeholders to initiate a process to harmonise the role

of TUNADO and other lead private sector agencies so that they play complementary, and not,

conflicting roles. The survey reveals that there is a great scope for close partnership between lead

private sector agencies in Uganda.


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Appendix 1: Assessment checklist for packers

Background information

1. Name of the organisation

2. Start of operations (year)

3. No. of employees

4. The organisation’s Mission/Vision

5. What factors encouraged you to start business in this sector?

6. What is the role of your organisation in the sector in terms of activities carried out e.g. producing,

marketing, storage, logistics etc?

7. What particular competencies do you have to carry out the mentioned activities e.g. skills and

capabilities in design, production, technology, organisation

8. Any assistance received from outside e.g. Govt. NGO’s?

9. How did you enter the market you serve now?

10. What is your marketing strategy?

Concerning products

1. What are the products you trade?

2. Do you buy from beekeepers or intermediate traders?

3. What do you buy? (Answers could be liquid honey, comb honey, both)

4. If you buy comb honey, please describe it more (answers could be -top quality ripe honey combs

only, a mixture of ripe and unripe, or a very crude mixture)

5. Do you assess the quality of the honey that you are buying?

6. Is honey quality a big issue for you?

7. Do you feel that you know enough about how to determine honey quality?

8. When you sell honey, do the buyers test the quality of the honey you are selling?

9. What are your production / sales volumes per season/year?

Concerning trade

1. Is there any certification procedures involved in your buying and selling?

2. Is this a problem for you?

3. Do you have linkage arrangements with the beekeepers? If yes, how do they work?

4. How do you achieve exposure in the market place i.e. trade fairs, exhibitions, associations, buyer

list, trade missions

5. Indicate major market destinations (If local, specify, If export, specify destination)

6. How do you set your prices?

7. On average, how much profit do you make?

Concerning the future

1. What are the main challenges faced in the sector e.g. technology acquisition, and production

capacity quality issues skills availability?

2. What type of training do you and other buyers need?

3. What type of training do you think beekeepers need?

4. Do you have a business plan?

5. Which markets do you foresee in the next 2-5 years?

6. If you were asked to mention any three specific areas for support, what would these be?


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Appendix 2: Assessment checklist for beekeeping associations

1. Background

Name of the group

Number of members in the group

2. Past experience in bee keeping

When did you begin beekeeping?

What motivated you to begin bee keeping and where did you learn beekeeping from?

How many members are traditional beekeepers (have been keeping local hives for long time)?

How many of the members have adopted bee keeping through trainings? (New entrants into bee

keeping)

3. Production capacity

How many hives (of what type) are owned by the organisation or group and are colonised?

How much honey was sold (kg) in 2006, 2005 and 2004?

What strategy does your group have to recruit and train other beekeepers either as part of the group

or outside the group?

Do you buy honey from other beekeepers outside your group?

If yes who do you buy from and how much?

4. Honey sales

Who do you sell your honey to?

Do you have any formal agreements to sell your honey to the mentioned buyers?

Does the buyer pay cash/credit/cheque?

For how long have you been selling your honey to this particular individual/company?

Is the buyer often available to buy all the honey available?

Is the buyer satisfied with the amount/quality of the honey sold him/her?

Does the buyer pay promptly for the honey?

How much does the buyer pay for your honey?

5. PROCESSING

In what form do you sell your honey?

• Comb honey

• Semi processed (liquid)

• Processed (liquid)

• Packed in jars of 500g

• Packed in any other material please specify

If processed, where is the processing done?

• Home by individuals

• Collecting centres

• Any other, please specify

Impact of beekeeping on the community

• How has beekeeping affected the lives of members in terms of improved livelihoods and standards

of living?

6. Other information

Do you have a strategic plan to improve production of honey among the group members?

Mention three areas where you would like to be helped

Mention the challenges facing the beekeepers


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50

Appendix 3: List of contact persons for the assessment process

List of contact persons for the assessment process

Name Association/ Organisation Telephone Email address

Mr. Opiso Oryokot Peter Soroti District Farmers Association (SODIFA)

0772-572766 / 035-275123 [email protected]

Mr. Moses Okalebo

(Coordinator) Soroti Environment Concerns (SEC) 0772-515643 0772-569976 [email protected]

Mrs Petra Okao

(Chairperson) Atego Widows and Orphans Care 0774-884514

Mr. Ayo George (Chairman) Ongica Beekeepers Association (OBA) 0782-119021

Mr. Nick Olabo Ongica Beekeepers Association (OBA), P.O Box 309 Lira 0772-862591

Mrs Petra Okao

(Chairperson)

Atego Widows and Orphans Care (CBO) Anyomorem, Ngetta, Lira 0774-884514

Mr. Nick Olabo (Chairman) Agoro Dang Twero 0772-862591

Mr. Halasi Gidongo (NAADS

Coordinator, Sironko) NAADS 0772-883984

Mr. Kiisali Bosco

(Coordinator) MEBKC (Mt Elgon Beekeeping Community) – Sironko District 0392-943018

Mr. Masuje Simon Peter -

(VECO Extension

Officer) 0774 631880

Mr. Oluma E. Jones Amuria Apiaries 0772 555694, 0772 933011

Mr. Oluma Hellen Amuria Apiaries 0772 501767

Mr. Akongo Hope Busia District Tunado Chapter

Mr. Kyaligonza Busia District Entomology Department 0772 555280

Mr. Ouma

Geoffrey(Coordinator) Sihubira Farmers Group 0772 849946, 0753 849946

Mr. Mako Francis

(committee member

and equipment

manufacturer) Sihubira Farmers Group 0752 651141

Mr. John Kepher –

(Coordinator ) Moyo Beekeepers’ Association (MBKA) 0774-144146

Mr. Maffu Mophart

(Chairman) Yumbe Farmers Association 0774-812 095

Mr. Ochowun Emirious

Uthuma (Chair man) Nebbi Beekeepers association 0774-334 401

Ms Ester Manager BNP

Mr. Aldo Hope –

(Coordinator)

SNV – West Nile, Arua 0772-458330

[email protected]

Mr. Mugisa Daudi Hoima district Entomology department

Mr. Kitaribara Ronald

(Chairman)

Hoima Beekeepers association

Mr. Mpoulo Aaron –

(Committee member)


Mr.Twise Charles

(Secretary)


Mr.Amon Mwana

(Committee member)


Mr. Kahira NAADS Coordinator Kazo 0772 556339


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Mr. Steven Babimusiriza Kazo Apiculture Centre 0772 434896

Mr. Sebastian Ssenyonga NAADS Coordinator Kiruhura 0772 875088; 0712 602828

[email protected]

om

Mr. George Tunanukye –

(Coordinator / Director)

Kamwenge Beekeepers Cooperative Savings and Credit Society Ltd (KABECOS) 0752-516641 [email protected]

Ms Komuhangi (Trainer)

Kamwenge Beekeepers Cooperative Savings and Credit Society Ltd (KABECOS) [email protected]

Mr. Bekanga Everest

(Beekeeper )

Kamwenge Beekeepers Cooperative Savings and Credit Society Ltd (KABECOS) 0772 901526 [email protected]

Ms. Inid Nyangoma-

(Production Officer /

Accountant) Connoisseur Honey Cooperative Society 0752-660440

Mr. Asiku Micah-

(Programmes

Coordinator) Budongo Forests Community Development organisation

046523156 0772 905861

[email protected]

[email protected]

Mr. Madira Davidson

(Executive Director) Budongo Forests Community Development organisation

046523156 0772336083

[email protected]

[email protected]

o.ug;bucodo2000@yahoo

.com

Mr. Nabende Peter Nyabeya forestry college 0774 526887 [email protected]

Mr. Agaba Milton- Nyabeya forestry college 0782 624067 [email protected]

Mr. Kobugabe Familial (Bee

technician) Nyabeya forestry college 0774 634690

Dr. Kasolo Wilson (Principal) Nyabeya forestry college 0772 496986

Mr. Ocaya Francis –

(Instructor) Nakasongola Apiculture Training Centre 0773 123789

Mr. Semwogerere James –

(Instructor) Nakasongola Apiculture Training Centre 0774 299614

Mr. Ganafa George William Ngoma Uweso beekeeping Association 0392 948184

Hon. Syda Bumba (Director) Syda Bbumba company limited (SIBUCO)

0772 777756 0752777750

Mr. Kabale Sula (Farm

Manager) Syda Bbumba company limited (SIBUCO)

0772 327575 0752 757532

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Strengthening trade in honey and other bee products in Uganda · 2016-11-01 · Strengthening trade in honey and other bee products: assessment report Page 5 The assessment was carried