Bitter story of Boni beekeepers with no market for their honey

Beekeepers in the Boni community in Lamu East are counting losses after failing to get a market for their honey.

The farmers said the situation worsened shortly after more than 60 Al-Shabaab militants raided the Baure military camp in June 2014.

They said they lost many of their customers who used to drive their vehicles from various parts of the country to buy honey in bulk from them.

The Boni, who are traditionally hunters and gatherers, have also been struggling to adapt to modern farming after the Boni Forest, their major source of livelihood, was declared a no-go zone following a security operation by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

The Linda Boni operation was launched on September 11, 2015 with the aim of flushing out Al-Shabaab militants said to be hiding in Boni forest and constantly terrorising the region.

HONEY GOING TO WASTE

Speaking to the Nation in Milimani Village, Lamu East, on Wednesday, the farmers said they were frustrated by the fact that thousands of litres of honey get spoilt daily since they have no ready market for the produce.

The farmers, who in 2015 received more than 90 modern beehives from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to facilitate modern honey farming, said they were happy that since 2015, their produce had increased but were quick to add that the only problem they encountered was lack of a common market for the produce.

They asked the government and well-wishers to intervene and help them find a market for their produce.

“We are counting losses daily on our honey. We don’t have reliable market for our produce. In addition, there is a pest that has come up and is destroying our honey in the hives especially if we delay to harvest as we search for market,” said Mr Ijuu Yusuf.

HELP ACCESS MARKETS

Boni-Dodori Sustainable Forest Management and WWF Project Officer Nixon Orwa, however, said there was a need for the county government and other players to intervene and help the community access markets for the honey in order to help them comfortably adapt to modern farming.

Mr Orwa said that after the WWF gave beehives to the Boni farmers, daily honey production increased, leading to most of it going to waste in the hives since the farmers have nowhere to store it once harvested.

He said the WWF also facilitated the building of trenches around the farms in Boni to stop wild animals from accessing them and destroying crops.

“If they can get ways of selling off their honey, then they stand to benefit a lot from the trade since they no longer have any other means of survival after they were locked out of Boni Forest for reasons we all know.

“They produce lots of honey that is now going bad. That is an unnecessary waste. Let us help them,” said Mr Orwa.