Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) has called for a bee-friendly landscape as a response to the national decline in honey production which stands at 10 per cent of the total production.

The development follows low production of honey recorded in different parts of the country, including Rutsiro and Rubavu districts in Western Province, facing climate change significantly affecting their production.

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Heavy rainfall received in this area is one of the factors affecting bee farming.

According to Marie Chantal Nyirakamineza, Director of Rutsiro Honey Ltd, the annual production of the factory currently stands between 35-40 tonnes against the factory’s annual capacity of 180 tonnes.

She said the agro-processing factory near Gishwati-Mukura natural forest has been operating at a lower capacity since its establishment in 2017.

"Our production is still at low capacity. Honey production is still inadequate despite efforts put in place by the government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources,” she stated.

According to Nyirakamineza and other beekeepers like Emilienne Mukasine, there are various reasons behind the decline, including inappropriate bee feeding during the rainy season.

"Effects of climate change are affecting honey production where heavy rains kill bees because of starvation. Use of pesticides and tree-cutting at an early stage—before flowering—are also challenges,” Nyirakamineza said.

Speaking to The New Times on the drop in honey production, Willy Mwiza, the Apiculture and Commercial Insects Senior Research Coordinator at RAB said the aforementioned challenges are affecting the country’s production but assured that different measures are being considered to overcome the barriers hindering honey production.

"Collaboration for bee-friendly farming to exchange information between beekeepers and farmers, including land use and real-time pesticide application, is an appropriate solution to mitigate climate change.

"Use of pesticides before flowering season and applying them by evening when bees are in the hives, and use of organic pesticides, are some of the necessary recommendations that farmers and beekeepers should jointly embrace at the local level,” he said.

Mwiza also urges beekeepers to "relocate bee hives to natural or planting forests far away from crop production”.

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Such a technique is being applied in Rutsiro and Ngororero districts where about five cooperatives made up of 200-300 members eye the outskirts of Gishwati-Mukura Biosphere Reserve, anticipating to increase honey production.

"Bee farming around Gishwati is a big opportunity for bees to get enough food from the natural forest,” Mukasine said.

Official figures by RAB show that the current national production is at 6,000 metric tonnes (MT) while the demand is around 17,000 MT. There are around 120,000 beekeepers across the country.