Stakeholders in the beekeeping value chain on Thursday in Abuja, urged government at all levels to put the apiculture sector at the fore of the food security and environmental conservation agenda.
They made the call at a two-day Youths Beekeepers Summit to commemorate the 2021 World Bee Day, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The event is with the theme, “Exploring the Potential of Apiculture in Nigeria’’.
May 20 is designated as World Bee Day.
Mr Ernest Aubee, Head of Division-Agriculture, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) emphasised the need for Nigeria to take advantage of its land size and vegetative cover to boost beekeeping.
Aubee, while pointing out the need to upscale youth participation in apiculture, described it as crucial in wealth creation and food security.
According to him, if one makes investments in apiculture, it is going to be a turnaround for the youth and contribute in diversifying Nigeria’s and African economies.
On his part, Mr Sola Kolawole, Executive Director, The Rural Environmental Empowerment Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, said that apiculture had not received sufficient support to flourish in the country.
According to Kolawole, beekeeping though largely unrecognised and not properly classified plays a significant role in the food production process.
He said that bees pollinated over 80 per cent of crops with their pollination activities by increasing crop yield significantly, thereby boosting food production.
“The apiculture sector which is responsible for the pollination of crops, production of honey and other hives related products has not been given sufficient support to flourish and expand.
“It has remained largely ignored an un-catered for both by government and citizens.
“Beekeeping products such as honey, pollen, wax, propolis and royal jelly which we can produce locally are now being imported into the country putting pressure on our foreign exchange.
“Recent projections based on household honey consumption puts Nigeria’s annual import bill at $30 million.
“This projection excludes the quantity consumed by the bulk industrial users such as pharmaceutical, cosmetics and beverage industries that use different grades of honey for production.
“The conservative projection here is that 10 million Nigerian households consume an average of a litre of honey annually half of which is imported.
“We have identified the potential of the beekeeping industry to generate employment, provide sustainable means of livelihood and ease more foreign exchange for development.
“And this is why we are advocating to strengthen beekeeping as a strategic part of mainstreaming environmental and agricultural activities,’’ Kolawole said.
He said that continuous neglect of the apiculture sector would hamper the country’s efforts toward achieving her food security target.
“This continuous neglect and isolation of beekeepers and apiculture centre in Nigeria will make it difficult if not impossible for the country to achieve her food security target in record time.
“This is because bees are important in the pollination of crops which results into better and increase in crop yield and nutrition,’’ Kolawole said.
Mr Yusuf Adeniyi, President, Youth for Apiculture Initiatives, called on government, investors, civil society and other stakeholders to support the awareness on the role of bees in increasing crop yields.
“Without them, we lose a variety of food such as pepper, watermelon, coffee, almonds, tomatoes, wheat and maize.
“Without bees, Africa cannot achieve a continent without hunger,’’ Adeniyi said.
He urged the Federal Government to include apiculture in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and other environmental funding interventions that could boost honey production in the country. (NAN)
