GHANZI - The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Christian De Graaff has said the national demand for beekeeping products continues to grow and is currently at 40 metric tons compared to the local supply representing 14 metric tons (35 per cent).

Mr De Graaff said this when officially opening the annual beekeeping field day in Charleshill recently.

He said the shortfall was met through imports mainly from the neighbouring countries.

Minister De Graaff said while the government bears the responsibility to create a conducive environment, farmers who are the producers have the ultimate responsibility to ensure that the sub-sector remains relevant and contributes significantly to food security, diversification of the economy and employment creation.

The day was held under the theme: Turning Beekeeping Challenges into Income Generating Enterprises.

The agriculture minister said the theme highlighted the determination of the organisers to support his ministrys efforts in promoting the diversification of the countrys economy from its current dependence on the mining sector.

Mr De Graaff said beekeeping in the Kgalagadi and the Ghanzi districts has progressed despite the climatic challenges.

The minister said there were 88 beekeepers in the two districts mostly operating at a subsistence level.

Further, I am told that a beekeeping association was established in 2007 and is in the process of registration with the Registrar of Societies, he said.

Minister De Graaff told the gathering that it was important to note that compared to cereal crops commonly grown in the country, honey production usher better returns if taken seriously.

He said the challenges facing the beekeeping activities in districts were drought, absconding of bees, access to credit and markets, poor planning and management and bee pests and high prices of beekeeping equipment.

Minister De Graaff said beekeeping was one of the enterprises of farming that has potential to alleviate poverty, therefore events such as field days are necessary for the development of beekeepers and do provide an opportunity for the stakeholders to exchange ideas on the best practices and challenges.

Another speaker, the principal agricultural scientific officer, Mrs Queen Turner informed the gathering that beekeeping in Botswana started in 1976 at Kacgae in the Ghanzi District.

Mrs Turner said Mr Bernard Klauss, a German volunteer identified beekeeping as a sustainable technology that rural communities could use to improve their livelihoods.

She said the idea grew and was later adopted in 1980 by the Ministry of Agriculture under the initiative to diversify the agricultural sector. BOPA