Tanzania has just won the bid to host the Fiftieth International Apicultural Congress the Apimondia.
This global apiculture event will take place in the country’s Northern City of Arusha in September 2027, bringing into the country more than 6000 delegates.
It will be the second time that Apimondia conference gets held on the African Continent, after the inaugural event which took place in South Africa back in 2001.
Addressing the media in Dar-es-salaam, the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Angellah Kairuki said apiculture is the best option for communities to generate income from forests without having to chop down trees.
“The Nation has potential to produce 138 tons of honey and other bee products, but at the moment Tanzania yields only 32 tons of honey per year,” the minister pointed out.
She revealed that Tanzania’s new environment conservation strategy lies under the theme drop the axe and pick up a hive.
Beekeeping and honey production is described to be the best option in offsetting effects of climate change through forest conservation.
Tanzania is the second country in Africa as far as honey production is concerned and takes 14th position globally even though its potential is not fully tapped.
Recently, South Africa sent to Tanzania a team of ten experts to learn from the country on effective beekeeping and honey production methods.
Africa considers beekeeping as a strategic sector that aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Apimondia event thus aims to bring together the global scientific community and beekeepers from around the world to share knowledge and experiences related to bees and beekeeping practices.
Apimondia is the International Federation of Beekeepers Associations. It also combines other organizations involved in the apiculture sectors since 1895.
The Apimondia Federation facilitates the exchange of information and discussions where beekeepers, scientists, honey traders, agents for development, technicians and legislators, gather to discuss, exchange ideas and learn from one another.
There is apparently strong and long-existing cooperation between Tanzania and the country’s beekeepers, associations, and scientists, as well as those within the region and worldwide.
Tanzania boasts a number of academic institutions offering a series of training in apiculture ranging from certificate to post-graduate levels.
The institutions of higher learning include the Beekeeping Training Institute (BTI) in Tabora, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), of Morogoro and the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).
Tanzania is renowned with vast landscapes, abundant flora, and thriving apicultural industry.
As for the forthcoming Apicultural Conference, the country sets the stage for an unparalleled experience for beekeeping enthusiasts and experts from around the world.
The country is making a much more profitable use of the nearly 10 million bee colonies, churning out 33,000 tons of honey every year; at least, this is according to the Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS).
Figures from the TFS indicate that the country is currently estimated to have a total of 9.2 million bee colonies.
A bee colony is usually made up of a single queen, hundreds of male drones and up to 70,000 female worker bees. Each honey bee colony also consists of developing eggs, larvae and pupae.
It therefore means Tanzania has more than 600 billion bees swarming across the country’s landscape, sucking nectar from flowers and milling honey. That means there are ten bees per person in Tanzania.
The Tanzania Forestry Agency is in charge of more than 20 bee parks in the country covering a total of 39,444 hectares of forested land.
And with nearly 35,000 tons of honey in stake, the Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) has also introduced a special digital system for monitoring and improving the quality of bee products in the country.
Known as ‘Honey Traceability System ‘ which is a cloud-connected system for tracking, measuring and grading the quality of honey, starting from the bee hive, honey-comb to the final market destination.
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