FAO Representative in Rwanda, Ms Coumba Sow.
FAO and Rwanda today celebrate World Bee Day and join efforts to advance the development of the honey sector in Rwanda and raise economic growth, according to FAO Representative in Rwanda, Ms Coumba Sow. Read her message below:
1. As we mark this important event today, it is evident that the beekeeping sector in Rwanda is increasingly attracting entrepreneurs to invest in beekeeping and bee products.
2. To-date, a good number of local brands exist on the Rwandan market alongside other brands from neighboring countries.
3. It is my pleasure to welcome you today here in this beautiful Hotel to attend the celebration of World Bee Day 2023, which was on 19 May at global level but in Rwanda, we chose this day.
4. FAO is implementing a number of agriculture Programmes that include One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) under which the Government of Rwanda has chosen Honey to be a priority product for Rwanda.
5. The above choice has led us into supporting the Honey Value Chain through various initiatives including but not limited to,
Supplying beekeeping equipment to key beekeeping cooperatives;
Training beekeepers on the required national and international standards;
Facilitating beekeepers and traders to join international forums therefore pave a way for the visibility of Rwandan honey on international markets.
Packages of Honey
6. Rwanda was accredited in June 2014, to be among the third-party countries to export honey to the European Union market, thanks to the quality compliance of its natural honey. This opportunity increased the market size for honey products from Rwanda.
7. However, the supply of honey products is yet to meet the demand. This calls for every stakeholder to double efforts in making sure honey production increases significantly in both quantity and quality.
8. The above is the motivation of this year’s celebration of the World Bee Day under the Theme: “Bee engaged in pollinator-agricultural Production “.
9. As we celebrate the World Bee Day today we join efforts to advance the development of the honey sector in Rwanda and to raise public awareness on the importance of apiculture in Rwanda’s agriculture and economic development.
10. This event will launch a platform for networking, marketing, feedback, knowledge sharing, learning from best practices and more that is all critical for business growth.
11. The celebration of the World Bee Day plays a pivotal role in raising Rwanda’s apiculture profile attracting both local and international participants and buyers. This enables the participation of grass root beekeepers and local government institutions all over the country.
12. I take this opportunity to commend the Government of Rwanda for providing a conducive environment for the beekeeping sector to thrive.
13. To the beekeepers and traders, I want to thank you all for the excellent role you play in the apiculture value chain, particularly by protecting bees.
14. Your noble commitment in this sector has undoubtedly contributed to the increase in the quality and quantity of honey leading to food security and nutrition of the Rwanda community.
15. I am confident that Rwanda’s strategies of stimulating access to innovative technologies and training and spurring more youth to join apiculture will undoubtedly keep developing this important value chain.
16. FAO shall work with all of you as we endeavor to improve productivity and commercial viability to reducing challenges surrounding this sub-sector.
17. We are immensely happy to collaborate with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Trade, and other relevant stakeholders in this sector to leverage apiculture in the country and make honey and honey products commercially viable and available to the market.
18. The FAO Director General Dr Qu Dong Yu rightly put it, quote and quote – “The globalized World we live in today is interdependent. We can individually and collectively take action and be change-makers but we need to do it with passion and compassion”
19. Before I conclude, I wish to give you a few facts on the threats affecting bees and what I think we can do together to mitigate them.
23. Did you know?
Bees are under threat and the rate of extinct species are 100 to 1,000 times higher than normal due to human impacts.
Close to 35 percent of invertebrate pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, and about 17 percent of vertebrate pollinators, such as bats, face extinction globally.
If this trend continues, nutritious crops, such as fruits, nuts and many vegetable crops will be substituted increasingly by staple crops like rice, corn and potatoes, eventually resulting in an imbalanced diet.
Intensive farming practices, land-use change, mono-cropping, pesticides and higher temperatures associated with climate change all pose problems for bee populations and, by extension, the quality of food we grow.
24. How we can do more:
Plant a diverse set of native plants, which flower at different times of the year.
Buy raw honey from local farmers.
Buy products from sustainable agricultural practices.
Avoid pesticides, fungicides or herbicides in our gardens.
Protect wild bee colonies where possible.
Help sustain forest ecosystems.
I wish you all a very happy World Bee Day celebration.