Kitui county has embarked on scaling up honey production by enhancing water basins and setting up tree nurseries with species that encourage pollination.
County value chain addition specialist Dr Temi Mutia said cutting down trees for charcoal has badly affected beekeeping, hence the need to optimise water basins and community forests for beekeeping and setting up tree nurseries.
“Deforestation is a key hindrance to high production of honey but we have come up with ways of ensuring we add value to our honey,” Mutia said. He urged beekeepers who haven’t joined cooperatives, especially youths, to do so.
“I encourage youths to join this venture as agricultural practices will always be rewarding, especially when farmers come together and form cooperatives,” he said.
Farmers said falling food production, water scarcity, insufficient and unreliable rainfall had made them shift from crop production to beekeeping so as to reduce poverty and enhance food security in Kitui.
They said lack of knowledge on improved bee farming hindered them from becoming successful beekeepers. The training offered by the Kitui government will improve honey production in the area.
The farmers spoke at Kiomo market after undergoing a three-day training on bee keeping.
Kiomo Kyethani beekeepers cooperative chairman Stephen Kioko lauded the Kitui county government for uniting bee farmers and training them on modern methods for maximum yield.
“Most of us have been lacking the knowledge on how to improve bee farming but with the training we can foresee better yields,” Kioko said.
Kitui has five bee farmers' cooperatives with over 10,000 members and more than 100,000 beehives, 70 of which are colonised.
The county government has supported the cooperatives with bee suits, harvesting buckets and smokers, among other relevant equipment.
Edited by Henry Makori
