A decision by Margaret
Ogaba to quit her teaching
career and concentrate on
bee farming has catapulted
her into being one of the
leading commercial bee
farmers in Uganda
producing over one tonne
of honey yearly and earning over $ 25,000.
Her success has inspired thousands of other women into the
lucrative trade which has not received much attention before.
Having been raised in a family anchored on modern education
and values, Ogaba’s father ensured that all his children went
through formal schooling which was viewed as the bridge
success.
Ogaba followed her father’s will and attained a diploma in
Education after which she got into the teaching profession.
“I
taught for about four years but still felt empty. I had a strong
conviction that I was not delivering my best in the world and had
to self evaluate myself about the right course on what I should
take up to make things right.”
Based on the fact that Ogaba’s dad
was an agricultural extension officer as well as an accomplished
commercial farmer in Northern Uganda’s town of Kitgum, it
turned out that the happenings at home had influenced and
shaped Ogaba’s passion.
“I had helped my dad attend to his vast
40 acre of farm and believed that this was the right course for
me.”
According to Ogaba, after serious consultations with the father,
he agreed to her plea. Ogaba then had to plan and eventually
make that most dreaded decision of quitting her teaching
profession and delve into the unchartered waters of bee keeping.
“It was not an easy decision because she was attached to her
school having risen very fast to be the headmistress. The
students and the teachers were like my family and I was the head
of this unit. Therefore it was not easy for me to just wake and
tell them I have left but eventually I painfully accorded in my
resignation to the board.”
Unfortunately, her dad passed on a few
months later before she could settle down into the ‘farmers’
league’.
“This was a shocker to me but it also gave me the zeal
to spur continuity on my father’s legacy. I was more than
determined to honour him by ensuring that I continue farming,”
noted Ogaba.
She started off by planting maize, simsim, groundnuts and even
introduced dairy farming on the farm. However, after a two
seasons, the then youthful Ogaba full of innovative ideas hatched
a plan to conserve their environment as well as ensure increased
yields and returns from the ventures.
“While still in the teaching industry, in 1992 I managed to attend
a seminar which was full of agribusiness motivational speakers.
“The outstanding inspirational I got from the event was how to
ensure an all round agriculture returns where bee keeping was
really a vital venture,” explained Ogaba.
She then decided to
incorporate this model into her inherited farm. “I started on a
small scale with about 20 traditional bee hives.”
She was
enlightened that unlike other agribusiness ventures, bee keeping
is less labour intensive and a well managed apiary can increase
farm yields because the bees are the natural pollinators.
“Above
all, the practice fetches good returns with about four harvesting
rounds per annually.”
Her trial project just
turned out to be the
turnaround of her life that
she had for long searched
for. The first harvest was a
bumper one and given the
ability of bees to pollinate
most crops, Ogaba noted
that she was not only
harvesting honey but also
her crops never disappointed.
At that moment, the industrious
farmer sold raw honey with a kilo fetching around $2 and each
hive producing an average of 45 kilos per year.
Word spread around very fast about her success in apiculture and
soon the district agricultural officer invited her for more training
in order to enhance modern bee farming.
“The government’s
support through Uganda National Farmers Association boosted
my efforts. I got a few modern bee hives and other accessories
like honey harvesting gear but the most important of all was the
eye opening knowledge that apiculture was a virgin lucrative
agribusiness venture.”
Her success lured more women into bee keeping and
environmental conservation.
“In 1995, I recruited over 400
women from 10 sub counties into the practice and gave them
prerequisite knowledge in the business. Many of them were
inspired because of the success they saw me registering.”
The
number of farmers practicing apiculture soon multiplied because
of the multiplier effect that the members had on the society and
soon the region was mapped to be the leading in honey
production in the country.
The group currently boasts of over 900 bee hives with a season
production of over one tonne. The increased production meant
that the group had to up their processing skills in order to come
up with quality end product that is acceptable in the international
markets which in many occasions has strict quality standards.
In order to meet the required quality in their honey, Five
members of the group led by Ogaba were sponsored to a month
long training in Germany in 1997. The training entailed honey
quality control, focus on use of bees’ products for different
purposes among others. It was funded by the German Technical
Corporation helped me to conceive and deepen the business of
bee keeping in Uganda.
Armed with the right knowledge and about $2000 from the
returns of the sales of honey, the team purchased honey
processing equipment and set up a mini plant in Kitgum.
She
explained that value addition is a profound trait in agribusiness
and is vital for any farmer who is kin on enjoying the full fruits
of his/her sweat.
“We sold a kilo of unprocessed honey at about
$2 dollars. However, when processed and packaged the same
quantity fetches over $25 dollars and therefore for any
empowered farmer, its’ in order to do value addition and reap
the benefits that other middle men take advantage of,” she
explained.
The knowledge and equipment acquired has enabled
the group access European markets with their products being
fancied over others due to their natural taste.
“We are producing
organic honey and do not mix with any inequality.
In addition, the use of pesticides in our region is not yet rampant
like in many other western countries and therefore this has
leveraged our products over the ones produced in Europe hence
the immense demand.”
Currently, the group can only sustain
supply to Turkey although they have plans to increase
production and expand their processing machinery. Ogaba
currently processes and packs honey under Jjllima Holdings
Limited as the trading company.
Apart from the processed
honey, the group is also
reaping from the honey by-
products with
manufacturing of candle
and even soap. Successful
bee farming thrives on
healthy environment
especially the conservation
of the bee friendly habitats.
Recent reports of scientists from Pennsylvania State University
Center for Pollinator Research, and International Centre of
Insect Physiology and Ecology ICIPE in their study published in
the scientific journal PLOS ONE indicates that African honey
bee was being driven into extinction due to the deforestation and
climate change.
The apiculture women’s group seems to have put this fact into
consideration as they rooted for tree planting in an effort to
ensure that habitat for the bees stays intact.
“Our group also
planted trees especially those that are widely known to be
friendly to the bees like Calandros, Teak and even fruits like
oranges and citrus.”
Apart from making her a millionaire, bee keeping has taken
Ogaba places and earned her accolades both locally and on the
international stage.
She has helped drive agribusiness
particularly apiculture in the country with her being recognized
by the government earning her various positions like being head
of Parliamentary commission on Agriculture and board chair
lady for Uganda National Farmers Association the Uganda
National Apiculture Development Organisation and Naads.
Internationally, she is a member of the International Honey
Show and Exhibition (UK), the International Federation of
Beekeepers’ Associations (Apimondia)
No comments:
Post a Comment