Bees for Development Ghana (BfdG) has organized a three-day training workshop for Citrus farmers of the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK) District in the Central Region as a way of supporting and improving the livelihood of these farmers whose income has declined.
The Communities involved in this training included New Ebu, Apaakrom, Ahonfie, Asebu Ebu, Kwekutu, Kroforodo, Musunkwa, Nyamedom Asuansi, Egyirkrom, and Pra-Ewusi. Over a hundred Citrus farmers from these communities in AAK enlisted and were trained to be beekeepers in order to earn more income to provide for their families.
Citrus fruits like Oranges, Lemon and Lime are one of the major products of the Southern part of Ghana, especially in the parts of AAK where the weather condition is most agreeable to these fruits. As a result, Citrus Farming is the main source of income for most farmers in the District.
In 2009, 11,028 metric tons of fresh oranges were exported to neighbouring countries of Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo, generating US$ 875,000 to the country (MoFA, 2011). The volume of oranges exported however declined by 25.3% in 2010. The corresponding foreign exchange also dropped from US$ 875,000 in 2009 to US$ 654,000 in 2010 (MoFA, 2011).
The main cause of the decline was attributed to the marketing of the fruits; low price offers in which total income didn’t match the cost of input in the farm. This forced many farmers to turn over to cash crops like cassava, maize and others.
The income generated from these fruits was used to support their children through school, buy basic necessities for their household, buy equipment to cater for their farms and many other things. But the decline in the production and income received affected the general livelihood of all the farmers involved in Citrus farming.
BfdG, an independent organization developing the beekeeping sector in Ghana to generate employment and create wealth saw an opportunity and took it. They introduced the Citrus, Bees and Livelihood project to support the farmers. Dr K. Aidoo, the Director of BfdG said that looking at the present situation, they had no other choice but to intervene and offer their assistance to the farmers.
Participants were trained to understand the bee colonies in natural cavities, wild honey hunting in rural communities, bee colonies in logs near the homestead, development of many different kinds of beehives, present-day beekeeping in the world, resources for Beekeeping in Ghana; the importance of bees and beekeeping to the national economy amongst other topics. They were also taught how to build beehives using locally available materials.
The training ended on a high note with the hope that the farmers were going to make good use of the knowledge acquired so they can benefit financially.
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Edem is a writer and loves to read. He believes that writing is an instrument of expression and an advocator of ideologies that can cause significant changes to our current dispensation and the future.
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