12 Dec 2016

Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse says the successful launch of Africa Apiculture Platform in Uganda in 2014 stirred an appetite for improved bee keeping methodologies.

Speaking at the launch of Botswana National Apiculture Platform in Gaborone, Mr Autlwetse said health and protection of bees had become an African agenda in pursuit of food security.

He said the launch was part of the Pan-African Initiative in cascading the apiculture framework as a milestone that treasured bee pollination as the driving force behind food security.

Mr Autlwetse said the gratitude went to the African Union Inter-African Bureau for animal Resources (AU-IBAR) who, through funding by the European Union, initiated the bee projects for Africa in order to improve bee production.

He noted that the economic value of bee pollination was estimated at US$120 million (about P 1.2billion) and the global business of the honey industry contributed over US$ 200 billion (about P2.1trillion) to the global economy through crop pollination, production of honey and beehive products.

“This challenges all 54 member states to the African Apiculture Platform to rise up to the immense economic opportunity that comes with a mind transplant, from viewing the bee as a mere flying insect to treasuring the bee as an agent of effective realization of food security,” he said.

Mr Autlwetse said today, Botswana has risen in putting the bee at the centre of Agriculture and the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security would do everything to ensure that the project achieved full potential of the apicultural sector demanded by the AU-IBAR Pan African bee project.

On the other hand, he said the timing of AU-IBAR initiative was opportune in that the country had recently transformed the name of the parent Ministry of Agriculture to that of Agricultural Development and Food Security.

He noted that bee keeping had since been elevated to a division status to aid in comprehensive research on bees, guidance of the national policy with legislative framework and assessment of impact of environmental threats on bees.

Acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr John Moreki said bees gave out honey and in addition played an important role in pollination important in the process of production of fruits and grains.

Mr Moreki further said bee keeping in the country was still at its elementary state and according to the records, last year the country produced only 13 tonnes of honey as opposed to the required 40 tonnes per year.

He expressed worry that 60 per cent of people trained in the country had been in the business for only up to two years. ENDS