For thousands of rural households in Zambia, honey is an important source of income. But a variety of factors, including lack of a coherent government policy, mean that the country is not tapping the full potential of honey and beeswax to reduce poverty. A CIFOR research project is shedding light on how it could.

If you drive through Zambia’s North-Western Province you will see how important honey production is for the farmers here. The trees around many villages are festooned with bark beehives, and the province exports around 700 tonnes of honey to Europe each year.

This is big business—and it could be bigger still. However, Zambia’s beekeepers face a number of constraints. Among other things, there has been a notable lack of policies to guide farmers on how to use forest resources, manage their hives and handle honey and wax. The lack of national honey standards has also meant that the quality of honey is often poor, and farmers lack good market information and the skills needed to negotiate fair prices.

‘Being a farmer was profitable in the past, but it’s difficult to make ends meet nowadays. Now we believe that beekeeping will offer us an alternative source of income.’

Douglas Kaliba
Chinyunya District

CIFOR scientists are currently conducting research on how to improve honey production as part of its 3-year project, ‘Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in African Dry Forests’. Although the project still has a year to run, the initial results are promising. Working with the Forestry Department in North-Western, Central and Lusaka provinces, CIFOR has been measuring the efficiency of five types of hive.

‘We want to establish what kind of hives are the most productive and encourage farmers to switch to them,’ says CIFOR researcher Madeleen Husselman.

This has involved collaborative research with 15 beekeepers at three sites. In the study, each beekeeper works with four kinds of hive: three traditional bark hives, three traditional log hives, six wooden Kenyan top-bar hives, and three mud hives. After participating in training sessions provided by the Forestry Department, the beekeepers now record levels of production, the time spent collecting honey, the problems they encounter and more.

The project has created considerable enthusiasm among beekeepers.

‘Initially, many farmers treated us as though we were a non-governmental organisation, and they’d ask for buckets and beehives and other things,’ says Husselman. ‘But now they realise this is a long-term research project, and they ask us to solve serious research questions.’

The district forestry officers who work with CIFOR researchers are optimistic about the project’s potential to improve local livelihoods.

‘At the end of the project, beekeepers will know the best hive that can be used,’ says Paul Kabengele, Mwinilunga’s district forestry officer, in his evaluation of the project. He anticipates that many beekeepers will shift from using traditional hives to more efficient modern hives. He also believes that they will develop a better understanding of how to manage the forests more sustainably.

Working on another level, CIFOR has helped the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources to develop a new beekeeping policy. Mercy Mwape, who was seconded to CIFOR from the Forestry Department, wrote the first draft of the policy.

‘The support from CIFOR has been very important in terms of pushing me to do the research that was needed to formulate the new beekeeping policy,’ says Mwape. The draft was approved by the Ministry in 2008 and sent out for review in consultations. The policy’s purpose is to improve the marketing of honey, ensure that farmers are given better guidance, and lead to coordinated efforts to control pests and diseases. All of this should ultimately help to improve the livelihoods of tens of thousands of farming families.

1. Zambian beekeepers examining one of the combs of a beehive.
   Photo by Fiona Paumgarten
2. The proceeds from the honey trade are an important source of revenue for local populations.
   Photo by Fiona Paumgarten
3. Zambian women selling locally produced honey at roadside stalls.
   Photo by Fiona Paumgarten

‘The support from CIFOR has been very important in terms of pushing me to do the research that was needed to formulate the new beekeeping policy.’

Mercy Mwape
Forestry Department