Apinec s Innovation & Honey Value Chain Experience
1- Background of the Company APINEC (meaning genus name for bees and nectars) is a company established in South- West Ethiopia with 86 hectares of nuclear farm plots dispersed in 6 forest farming communities in three Weredas for sustainable forest resource management using improved marketing system, productivity, quality, and value addition of non - timber forest products, esp. bee products.
2- Introduction A total of about 5.1 million hives is estimated to be found in the rural sedentary areas of the country. From this total hives, the greater part (96.38 percent) is reported to be traditional and 3.62% is intermediate and modern hives. The estimate of total honey production is about 53.68 million kilograms of which the greater portion is harvested from traditional hives (CSA, 2010/11).
Introduction Contd. According to the (CSA, 2011), estimation, the country has produced 53, 680 tons of honey, However, only 1.36% of the total production was Exported to 16 countries, mainly to, - Sudan ( 72%), Norway, (16.55%), UK,( 4.26%), - Saudi Arabia,( 2.99%) and others (4.2%). - Average F.O.B selling price of one Kg is USD 3.30 (ERCA, 2011)
Constraints Honey value chain suffers from major bottlenecks such as: Non existence of well equipped and established demonstration and skill development facilities in potential areas that serve beekeepers; Shortage of bee colony is limiting production of honey and other bee products for which there is considerable market potential; Low level of private sector s involvement in providing tailor made innovative extension services; Weak government extension service and narrow NGO involvement. The trainings provided by NGOs and agricultural extension workers have been scattered and isolated from the private sector. There has been little scaling up since beekeepers have not been linked to out-growers networks and processing companies.
One of the bottlenecks for low adoption of modern hive technology is Unaffordable and inaccessible ready made beeswax foundation sheet. To manage modern hives, beeswax foundation sheets are required. Bees need to produce about 8 kilograms of honey to produce one kilogram of beeswax. Because the empty combs are returned for refilling, honey production is enhanced. Currently, the Agriculture bureau purchasing a kilogram of beeswax about Birr 260, which suffices to produce only 10 foundation sheets using manual casting mould. However, Apinec is supplying the same amount of wax foundation sheet Birr 200.00, that reduces the cost by 30%. The other big advantage for the beekeepers is no need to buy the expensive manual foundation sheet mould. As a result of the introduction of the technology beekeepers save time, money and increase their production both in quality and quantity.
Innovation that reduce cost and Time of Beekeepers
Manually printed foundation sheet vs ready made foundation sheet Ready made embossed wax foundation sheet Manual casting mold
Beeswax wastage and firewood to melt beeswax in manual preparation
Faulty Beekeeping Practices Cutting of useful trees for log hive preparation Inferior quality honey (unripe, brood and dead bees) harvested together in traditional way
A father of five children paralyzed fallen from tall tree while harvesting honey
Old Approach In order to change the existing Apiculture sub sector s scenario, attempts are being exerted by GO S and NGO s involved in supporting beekeeping activities of producers, to address bottlenecks and bring about a substantial change in the areas of product, productivity and quality of honey produced at farm gate level.
However, most of the approached appeared to have lacked a wideranging basket of choices and concentrated only either on hardware (technology), software (knowledge and skill) or on market linkage. The other approach widely employed by GOs and NGOs is the provision of Highly subsidized support with little or no conditions attached to it. Such approach has, Weakened their inner potential, Undermined their creativity, Eroded their confidence of believing in their capacity and changing of problems with little help and more of their ownership and
There is only one established government research center in the country, as a result, knowledge and skill being inaccessible and unreachable, and has affected the effort of qualifying beekeepers with the required improved beekeeping techniques that in turn directly impacted the improvement of product, productivity and quality of honey produced by the larger beekeepers of the country. Therefore, it is a clear indicator of the low level of capacity for the research and skills training in the country.
Apinec being the first-of-its kind private firm in the country to establish and run a private beekeeping training centre for the last four years (soon to be upgraded in to a college level in 2016) with the aim of facilitating the development and upgrading of skills and knowledge of improved beekeeping practice through skill training program.
As part of Apinec s development strategy and its contribution to the sub sector s growth, it has established a number of purposefully located commercial beekeeping sites that are attached with its out growers with the objective of, Production of its inputs, Demonstration of technology and knowledge transfer centre for its out growers. Conducting various beekeeping trainings including basic, Queen bee rearing, stock improvement,. Harvesting, storage and handling. Honey quality analysis and Beehives and ready made foundation sheet.
Apinec s approach is to train1000 of out growers where skill and knowledge is provided to the targeted beekeepers through the facilitation of training and input loan credit with 2 years payable period.
Selection criteria The 1000 our growers beekeepers will be selected based on the selection parameters set by the company and the communities of the areas. Those who produce 50kg and above of honey from traditional beekeeping. This parameter is emphasized because of the fact that involving beekeepers with traditional beekeeping practicing gives an advantage and serves as a base to transfer their endogenous technical knowledge in to a more improved beekeeping practice we intends to bring about through the training. Willingness to pay their loan etc,..
Training Topics The training will mainly focus on : seasonal management of bees, harvesting, storage and handling of bee products, improved colony splitting techniques and production and marketing of quality bee products.
linkages b/n companies & Outgrowers helps to: Move farmers produce to the end market Reduce transaction costs Increase bargaining power Increase industry competitiveness Transfer of information and learning
Apinec's facilities to assist its out growers
Apinec's facilities to assist its out Growers Library Dormitory
Apinec's facilities to assist its out Growers Queen Rearing Demo Hive workshop
Apinec has also established a mini- size quality control laboratory for the analysis of honey
FARMERS & APINEC s INNOVATION Queen Cell made from wax Cup made from bamboo
Developing of imported materials from locally available materials Imported cell cup Imported cell holder Locally made cell holder Locally made wax cell cup
Major Trainings and services rendered by Apinec Over 1000 beekeepers, extension workers, wereda and zonal experts were trained on basic beekeeping and Queen bee rearing and construction of hives from locally available materials. Special Queen bee rearing training was also given to higher experts of Southern regional bureau of agriculture, lead beekeepers from Tigray, Oromia, Amhara, Benshangul and SNNPR and FHE and experts from Zambia. Trainings on construction of hives (modified zander and transitional ) for Oromia wild life and forest enterprise experts. Provision of Protective cloth, production, processing storage and handling equipments and materials.
Farmers Innovation of Technology Apinec has created access to resources for innovative farmers to solve their own problems. As a result of this they started developing low cost technologies that fit their own reality.
Lessons learned Farmers realized beekeeping as alternative source of income/ business rather than cutting trees as a coping strategy. Through appropriate technology introduction,participation of women and elder people in back yard beekeeping and their income increased. Farmers creativity increased ( Are able to construct their own hives from locally available materials). More farmers are encouraged to take part in beekeeping because of the ready made market access by Apinec.
Award won by Apinec In the Annual APITRADE AFRICA Exhibition held at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from (26 29 of September 2012) Apinec stood first under the category of best exhibitor and best beekeeping technology equipments manufacturers. Also awarded trophy and medal for its technology transfer for small holder and experts in the region.
I Thank You Wubishet Adugna Managing Director Apinec Agro-Industry plc P.O.Box: 27535 Code 1000 Tel: 251 911 407360 wubhoney@yahoo.com Addis Ababa Ethiopia