An international expo on commercial bee keeping to be held in Rwanda in September, is expected to demonstrate how commercial bee-keeping drives socio-economic transformation through shared technologies and experiences.

The 5th All-Africa International honey industry expo will begin September 21 to 26 at Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village, formerly Camp Kigali.

The event is organised by ApiTrade Africa in partnership with National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB). It will be held under the theme, "Driving socio-economic transformation in Africa: the role of commercial bee-keeping”.

The event will showcase bee products, bee-keeping technologies, innovations and programmes and brands intended to promote apiculture. About 5,000 delegates and exhibitors from across Africa and beyond are expected to attend.

The specific objectives of hosting the expo, according to the organisers, include improving global market linkages of bee products suppliers, as well as promoting bee-keeping as a source of employment creation and environmental protection.

Jean Marie Vianney Munyaneza, the manager of Agriculture Diversification and Product Development Division at NAEB, told The New Times, on Wednesday, that the event will be a networking opportunity for bee-keepers and other stakeholders.

"Bee-keepers will be linked to researchers in the sector and there will be presentation of papers on the current research in honey quality and produce, as well as the sector’s organisation,” he noted.

So far, three Rwandan university scholars have expressed interest to make presentations on the state of bee-keeping in Rwanda, according to Munyaneza.

He also said modern beehives that can produce 30kg of honey per year, which mainly come from Kenya and Ethiopia, will be showcased.

"Traditional beehives being used by some beekeepers in the country produce between four to seven kilogrammes of honey per year,” said Munyaneza, noting that there will also be study tours to at least four honey producing centres in Rwanda, including the Gishwati Forest in the Western Province.

Anselme Nzabonimpa, the president of the Federation of Beekeepers’ Cooperatives in Rwanda, told The New Times that many beekeepers in the country regard beekeeping as a subsistence farming practice.

"Currently, Rwandans regard beekeeping as a source of honey to use in beer making or medicine for simple children’s ailments. They do not understand that they can produce more honey for commercial purposes, and the expo is expected to be a sensitization platform,” he noted.

There are about 35,000 known beekeepers in the country, an estimated 90,000 modern beehives, and 200,000 traditional beehives.

The current honey production in Rwanda is estimated at 3,700 tonnes per year, yet the honey demand is over 4,500 tonnes. The country expects to produce 7,100 tonnes of honey by 2017.

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