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BACK TO BEEKEEPING NEWS AND ARTICLES Beekeeping means business in South SudanEquatoria Foods Maridi, a locally registered ethical business, works with traditional beekeepers in southern Sudan to develop the beekeeping potential in Western Equatoria province. The focus is on improving the quality of honey harvested from traditional bee hives. Farmers benefit from training provided by Equatoria Foods to improve the quality of honey harvested, the provision of harvesting buckets as well as a guaranteed market for their honey and wax. Equatoria Foods works closely with the local beekeeper's association - New Sudan Honey Producers Association (NSHPA). The initiative is supported by USAID as a means to alleviate poverty using local resources in a sustainable manner.
Staff of Equatoria Foods weigh and grade the honey CASE STUDY: Apiconsult visited Maridi in July 2004 and met Richard Wako - one of the honey suppliers for Equatoria Foods. Richard is a married man with nine children to support. During the March-May 2004 honey season he harvested a total of 1,154kgs of honey - all grade one, from his 140 traditional bark hives. This honey earned Richard over $500USD. This amount of money is the equivalent of a year's wages in south Sudan. With this money Richard intends to start a business by buying a sewing machine. Honey is the only cash crop which can give Richard such a good return. Richard and other honey producers in Maridi are very happy that they now have a market for their honey - until now local markets could not absorb all the honey produced. Sixty tons of honey has been exported this past season from Maridi to regional markets in Kenya and Uganda.
Richard receives his reward for honey sold
Equatoria Foods staff inspect traditional bark hives |
Phone: +254-733-716948 | Post: Apiconsult Box 3354 Nairobi Kenya |
Email: info@apiconsult.com
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