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| BEVAC Manager, Martin Mgallah, as seen giving crucial information to the beekeepers of Singida region during opening of this year's World Bee Day in Singida Region. |
By Valentine Oforo, Singida
The Beekeeping Value Chain Support Project (BEVAC), the robust initiative under the financial auspicious from the European Union (EU), has successfully managed to assist a total of 10,000 beekeeper farmers across Tanzania to improve their apiculture executives.
Being implemented through the Belgian Development Agency (Enabel), through working tie with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, the timely project is capacitating the beekeepers and the small-scale honey processors to adopt use of modern beehives, as well as recommended honey harvesting, honey and beeswax processing, packaging and labelling, among others.
Giving an exclusive interview to this publication in the sideline of the opening of this year's celebrations of the Bee Day which is observed at national level in Singida region, BEVAC Manager, Martin Mgallah, said the project was also linking the bee farmers with the potential local and international markets.
He unveiled, the project was implementing it's activities into different regions in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, including Tabora, Shinyanga, Kigoma and Singida, but also Pemba South and North, to mention but a few.
"For instance, in Singida region, we capacitating the beekeepers in terms of imparting them with the relevant useful trainings to assure they produce quality honey that reflect the needed international market standards, as well as linking them to the vast profitable markets," he expressed.
Moreover, he said BEVAC is working to cement efforts by the Government to protect forests, Itigi thickets being one of them, the country’s famous and unique forest hub for bees that produces unique honey with medicinal characteristics.
"We're very committed to help the beekeepers across Tanzania to improve their executions through diverse means and we're deeply appreciation the support that we keep on receiving from the parent ministry as well the European Union," Mgallah said.
In the same vein, he stated that the project has so far freely provided a total of 50 modern beehives to ten beekeepers groups in Kitaraka village in Itigi division, Manyoni District in Singida region, saying each group scooped five beehives.
For his part, during his remarks to open this year's celebrations of World Bee Day, the District Commissioner (DC) for Singida, Pascus Mulagiri said the region had successfully managed to fetch about 890m/- due to the increase in beekeepers and the production and sale of various products from the honey crop in the period from 2017 to 2022.
He informed that, during the period of five years, (2017-2022), the beekeepers in the region increased from 5,675 to 12,133, whereby they managed to produce and sell approximately 89 tons of honey products, including 20 tons of beeswax that brought in at least 140m/-.
Held under the theme of ' Let's Protect the Bees for the Safety of the Environment and Food' at the Bombadier grounds of Singida region, this year's event attracts more than 190 institutes from the public and private sector, beekeeper farmers and processors to exhibit numerous bee's products, but also to exchange relevant experience and deliberate on viable means to solve the myriad challenges that upset the economic sector.
World Bee Day is observed across the world on May 20 whereby in the day, diverse beekeeping events are usually held with an eye to educate the general public about the importance of bees and beekeeping.
In this year's World Bee Day, there is a special emphasis on the role of bees as pollinators and how they help to revive forest sector and the agriculture sector.
Because the bee population is under threat, World Bee Day majors, among others to informs how to protect bees.
Record shows that Tanzania stands 14th country for beekeeping in the world and 2nd in Africa with an estimated to capacity of producing at least 138,000tons of honey and 9,200 tons of beeswax.
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