National Beekeepers Association

Food productivity in Ghana is very low. Farmers are thereby poor because of low crop yields. This is discouraging the youth from going into agriculture creating high unemployment rate in the rural communities. The farmers are not literate and are not receiving education to help them produce more to earn more. This problem can be addressed by educating and training farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices and integrate pollinator conservation in their crop farming to increase pollination and productivity. 

We train farmers in the rural communities and supply them beekeeping equipment to establish apiaries on their farms to increase pollination. We train them to produce quality honey and beeswax and to add value to the bee products  to produce natural cosmetics. The farmers earn more money from the  sale of the crops, bee products, and beeswax. The youth are being employed to process and sell  the bee products and cosmetics.

Climate change is rapidly emerging as a crucial issue affecting many sectors in the world and is considered to be one of the most serious threat to sustainable development (Akinnagbe and Irohibe, 2014) [1]. The increased emission from energy, industry and agricultural sectors, widespread deforestation as well as rapid changes in land use and land management practices is contributing to a remarkable change in the gaseous composition of earth’s atmosphere. Anthropogenic activities contribute to enhanced emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) referred to as greenhouse gases (GHGs) popularly. The outgoing infrared radiations from the earth’s surface is trapped by GHGs resulting in rise of atmospheric temperature. Agricultural activities contribute immensely to climate change as it ranks third after energy consumption and chlorofluorocarbon production in enhancing greenhouse emissions. Agriculture impacts climate change and also is largely impacted by climatic aberrations.

The population of Nkoranza South Municipality, according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, is 100,929As high as 81.7 percent of households in the Municipality are engaged in agriculture. Of the employed population, about 75.0 percent are engaged as skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers.

We educate farmers to understand the impact of climate change in agriculture and to appreciate the role of pollinators in crop farming.  We educate them to adopt sustainable farming practices and  use climate adaptive methods in their farming such as taking the right measures to lessen the negative impacts of climate change or exploit the positive ones. We educate them to cultivate high yielding disease and drought resistant planting materials.

We train them to establish apiaries in their crop farms to increase pollination and productivity. We supply them beekeeping materials including beehives, bee suits, smokers, hive tools, honey press, centrifugal extractors, solar extractors, and others. We promote biodiversity. We train them to adopt climate change mitigation and aim at stabilizing and reducing atmospheric CO2 concentration and by (i) Reducing emissions such as avoiding slash and burn practices, and (ii) Increasing sequestration by planting more tree crops and establishing bee habitats. We educate them to integrate poultry and livestock farming into their crop farming to produce healthy nutritious food.

Economically our farmers earn more money from the sale of their increased crop yields due to increased pollination. They earn cash from the sale of the bee products as well.

The population of Nkoranza South Municipality, according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, is 100,929. Males constitute 49.6 percent and females represent 50.4 percent. Of the employed population, about 75.0 percent are engaged as skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers,

The Municipality used to be a thick forest area but the vegetation has changed to that of savannah mainly due to the adverse effects of bush fires, rapid expansion of agriculture and uncontrolled operations of timber firms. Among the effects of the deforestation are the change in the rainfall pattern and the disappearance of some forest resources such as snails, mushrooms and wildlife.

Food crop productivity is declining making the farmers poorer. The youth shy from going into agriculture. 

We engage the community to discuss the challenges they face and the solution we profess.Our Association is owned by the farmers from the communities and together we design the solutions and implement in the communities.

The farmers testify to the increase in crop yields and the increase in profitability.

We educate peasant farmers in the rural communities to appreciate the role of pollinators to increase crop pollination and productivity. We train and supply the farmers with high yielding, drought and disease resistant seedlings and other planting materials including improved seeds to the farmers to plant to increase productivity and establish pollinator habitats.

We supply beekeeping equipment such as  beehives, bee suits, smokers, hive tools, honey press, centrifugal extractors, solar extractors, and others. 

We further train especially the women and youth to add value to the bee products to produce natural cosmetics to sell and make more money. 

We educate and train peasant farmers in the rural communities of Ghana to appreciate the role of pollinators in crop farming to increase productivity.We  supply the farmers with beekeeping equipment and assist them establish apiaries on their farms.

We help farmers harvest, process, and produce high quality bee products such as honey and beeswax and train the women to add value to the bee products to produce natural cosmetics. We support them market the bee products and cosmetics.

The farmers earn more money from the sale of the increased crops ,  bee products, and the cosmetics. Previously  they earn only from the sale of their low food crops yields. The higher income of the farmers is attracting the youth into farming. Food productivity is increasing  leading to Ghana attaining food self sufficiency.

Our program is promoting biodiversity and establishing pollinator habitats.The women are establishing businesses in the rural communities and employing the youth in the production and marketing of bee products and cosmetics.

Our competitors include Bees Abroad and Bees for Development of the United Kingdom, as well as local beekeeping associations. However these competitors only promote beekeeping without necessarily assisting the marketing of the bee products and adding value to the bee products. 

Our Association is looking at food security and increase in crop yields. We are promoting increase in pollination and crop productivity We are also looking at the economic well being of farmers to alleviate poverty and job creation in rural communities as well environmental conservation.

We are promoting the use of framed bee hives as against top bar hives. Framed beehives are easier to manage and harvesting is simpler. It produces more honey and gives the farmers more income. Processing honey from framed hives is easier. We are therefore promoting the use of honey extractors instead of honey press. Honey extractors are more hygienic in honey extraction. W e also promote the use of solar extractors for honey and beeswax processing.

We are further promoting the use of honey filling machines rather than manually filling jars with honey to sell.

We also promote the use of soap mixing and cutting machines in our cosmetics industry including soap mixing machines and packaging machines and equipment.

To maximize profit for the farmers we propose establishment of fruit juice making industries in the rural communities to process fruits such such as oranges, mangoes, cashew, and water melon into juices especially during the harvesting seasons. Cash fruits are not processed and left to rot when it can be processed and sold to benefit the farmer and the general public. Fruit press machines are available that can be purchased to produce fruit juices.

Farmer education will be enhanced when we supply our farmers with mobile phones so they can access the internet to gain information and education and also market their produce and products.

Framed beehives or Langstroph hives are commonly used in more advanced economies. It is gradually being adopted in some African countries and also in Ghana. Together with the centrifugal extractor farmers harvest and process more honey and get more money. Using solar extractors to extract beeswax is most desirable since it uses sunlight which is clean energy and does not pollute the environment.

Using mobile phones to access the internet is proven to be fast and convenient to access information, communicate, learn, and market goods and services. In this COVID-19 pandemic era online communication is the most desired.

We propose acquiring computers and projectors to aid in our teaching and education of our farmers and staff.

Soap making machines and fruit presses are widely used in the production of fruit juices in rural communities.

To market our products and services we employ the services of experts to develop marketing applications to sell our goods and services remotely and receive payments through digital platforms.

We educate farmers in rural communities to understand environmental changes and adopt adaptive and mitigating climate change methods.

We then train the farmers to appreciate role of pollinators in food crop production and supply them beekeeping equipment such as beehives, bee suits, smokers, hive tools, containers, and others,  and help them establish apiaries on their farms. This increases pollination of their crops such as cashew, citrus, mangoes, tomatoes, pepper, and other crops. Crop yields are improved as a result of the increase in pollination due to the activities of the bees and other pollinators on the farms.

As a result the farmers harvest more crops and productivity is increased. This makes the farmers richer as they earn more money from the sale of their crops. The bees also produce such bee products as honey, beeswax, and propolis that the farmers sell to make additional money. We further train especially the women and youth to add value to the bee products to produce natural cosmetics to sell and make more money. Training the women and supplying them soap and cream making ingredients enables them to produce cosmetics as the output.

We train the farmers to integrate livestock farming such as rearing local fowls and sheep and goats on their crop farms to produce healthy animal protein sources.

The outcome of our intervention is seen in increased food productivity leading to food self sufficiency. The farmers earn more money and is measured in the improvement of their living standards. The farmers establish businesses and employ the youth in the production and sale of the bee products and cosmetics thereby reducing unemployment.

Environmentally more trees are planted by the farmers leading to sequestration of greenhouse gases and reduction in global warming. Biodiversity is promoted and the environment is conserved.

A research conducted by Aidoo et al. on behalf of the Afruican Cashew Initiative and another research publication by the FAO titled 

NON-WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS
19
Bees and their role in forest livelihoods
A guide to the services provided by bees and the sustainable harvesting,
processing and marketing of their products.

explains further our program .

There are over 5 million peasant farmers ready to receive training and support from us to increase productivity to help Ghana attain food self sufficiency.

Currently we have 5,000 registered farmers.

We plan to enroll 1,500 farmers in the year 2021.

We plan to increase our membership by 12,000 in 5 years reaching a total membership of 17,000 by 2025.

These are farmers directly trained by us. They in turn are to train 20 farmers each.

It is estimated that by 2025 1,800,000 farmers would have received training to integrate beekeeping and animal rearing in their crop farming to increase productivity and produce healthy food, promote biodiversity, and conserve the environment.

There are over 5 million peasant farmers we target to reach with our program to help them increase productivity, earn more money, and conserve the environment.

Our goal is to reach the 5 million peasant farmers. 

As we train the farmers we encourage them to go into the rural communities  to train other farmers. We plan establishing the National Beekeepers Association in each farming communities in Ghana. We currently are registering the Association with the Department of Cooperatives. We will then form and register the Societies to effectively reach the various farmers at the district level and villages.

We collaborate with other farmer organizations such as mango, cashew, and peasant farmers associations. We collaborate with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of local and Rural Development. We engage the local administrative authorities as well the traditional authorities to engage the farmers and support them.

We will train the farmers, supply them beekeeping equipment, supply them cosmetics producing ingredients and equipment, encourage them to integrate livestock farming into their crop farming,promote biodiversity, and conserve the environment.

We will purchase the bee products and the cosmetics from the farmers to sell.

We need funding to acquire training materials and logistics to train more farmers. 

We need funding  to purchase beekeeping equipment including processing machines to supply to the farmers.

We need funding to purchase cosmetics making machines and ingredients to supply to especially the women and youth to produce natural cosmetics.

We need funding to purchase the bee products and cosmetics to sell. Buying the products from the farmers gives them cash immediately and this encourages them to continue integrating beekeeping into their crop farming to increase productivity and promote biodiversity.

We need to acquire a sales application to help us market our products online and on various online and digital platforms. This a major to attracting sales and patronage of our produce and products.

We need technical assistance in producing high quality cosmetics and honey value added products such as wines and jams.

We plan to engage partners and investors to invest in our organization to assist the peasant farmers whilst they make returns on their investments. 

We will apply to donors such as Solve to receive funding and technical support to grow the organization.

We will continue our collaboration with Bees Abroad, Bees for Development, and PUM Senior Experts of the Netherlands to receive technical training in beekeeping.

We will apply to the government and NGOs to support us help the farmers.

We have 45 full time staff.

We have 35 part time staff

We have 40 volunteers.

We have a very strong and dedicated team committed to supporting farmers.

The founder and President of the Association, Mr Richard Okoe, has 20 years experience as a beekeeper and environmentalist. He trained as a veterinarian and holds a National Diploma in Animal Science. He has 22 years rural banking experience. He worked for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for 10 years before joining the rural bank in 1988. He has spent all his working life serving the poor in rural communities. He resides in Nkoranza, a rural community, although he hails from Accra, the capital  of Ghana. He is the general administrator and lead trainer.

Precious Fabea is the CEO of the National Beekeepers Association. She holds a Bsc in Social Science. She works closely with the President in the administration of the Organization.

Mr Joshua Antwi is the Director in charge of training. He holds a Bsc in Agribusiness. He has 10 years experience in beekeeping. He is a master beekeeper and trainer for Bees Abroad of the United Kingdom. He is also a tutor in a Senior high school in the Ashanti region of Ghana.

Mrs Amina Zakaria is the Director in charge of women training. Shes a Bsc in Economics and a banker. She is a trainer in production of cosmetics and marketing,

Mrs Agnes Pokua is the Women Organizer. She is a retired primary school teacher. She has 20 years experience in beekeeping. She is also the Board Secretary of the Association.

We partner the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to train the farmers in agronomic and sustainable farming. The Ministry also supply inputs such as fertilizer and seedlings to our farmers.

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development supports us with legislation and infrastructural development.

The traditional authorities help the farmers to acquire lands.

The banks give our farmers loans.

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Our customers are peasant farmers in the rural communities. We educate and train them in their local communities to increase productivity, promote biodiversity, earn more money, establish cottage industries, and conserve the environment.

We supply them beekeeping equipment and train them to establish apiaries on their farms to increase crop pollination leading to increase in productivity.

We train them to produce high quality bee products such as honey and propolis.

We further train the women and youth to add value to the bee products to produce natural cosmetics.

We buy the bee products and cosmetics from the farmers to give them  ready market and instant cash.

Impact of our intervention is resulting in farmers earning more money as they increase productivity. The youth are being attracted to farming now. Ghana is moving towards food self sufficiency.

Farmers are growing more tree crops thereby creating pollinator habitats. Keeping bees and planting more trees promotes biodiversity and pollinator protection and environmental conservation.

Establishing businesses in the production and sales of bee products and cosmetics is reducing unemployment as women and youth are employed in rural communities.

The Association generates revenue by buying the bee products and cosmetics produced by the farmers and selling to bulk buyers.

We make 30% return on investment on every sale we make bee products and cosmetics.

Solve will help us overcome all pour barriers. 

Solve will give us the opportunity to become a member of their community network to receive support from experts in our industry, peer support, personalized training, funding and connection to funding institutions, and technical support.

We need partnership in the business model to develop it better and generate optimum revenue to make appreciable margins leading to financial sustainability.

We need solution technology in our production processes and service delivery.

We need partnership to better develop our product and service delivery.

We need collaboration to effectively develop funding and revenue models.

We need partnership develop our marketing, media exposure, and visibility.

We would like to partner MIT faculty and initiatives as well as Solve members.

We are empowering women in the rural communities economically by training and supplying them with beekeeping equipment and cosmetics making equipment and inputs to create businesses in rural communities and employ women and youth.

We have especially formed the Women and Youth in Beekeeping and Value Chain-Ghana to give the women autonomy to educate themselves and decide on production and sales of their products. 

The women manage their own finances and have a big say in the development of women and youth. They are financially dependent and their voices are heard loudly.

Our program is targeted at servicing more than 5,000,000 peasant farmers in rural communities in Ghana. On our own we have trained more than 5,000 farmers directly and these farmers are also training other farmers in their communities growing the number of trained farmers exponentially.

The Future Planet Capital Prize will be used to train more farmers to go into the various rural communities  to train other farmers to reach 1,800,000 farmers within 3 years.