Improved bee forage development as an input to enhance beekeep-ing productivity and income of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), IPMS-ILRI, P.O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

1. Introduction

2. Intervention approaches and implementation

3. Achievements 3.1 Changes in bee forage availability

4. Lessons learned • Strengthen the skills and experience on basic understanding of the dynamic relationships of nectar flow and honeybee

colony management is essential for profitable beekeeping management. • Beekeeping needs a year round full time follow up and found to be a profitable option for landless youth. • Establishment of learning platforms and experience sharing tour of beekeepers is an easy way to scale out and up

market oriented beekeeping management. • Beekeeping has been a profitable business under extreme rainfall variability and relatively resilient to rainfall induced

stress.

3.2 Understanding on the dynamics of bee forage sources

• Learning and experience sharing platforms established. • Experience have been shared among experiences and less experienced beekeepers. • Special field visits, tours, exhibition and discus-

sions to reflect lessons captured.

3.5 Mechanisms of skill/experience sharing and uptake

3.4 Changes in skills on marketable oriented beekeeping products/bee forage

3.3 Changes in skills on

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Happy period Transitional period Dry period Frost period

Rainfall distribution (%

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Period of the year

Beekeeping has been indentified as an important income generating commodity that fits well within the smallholder agricultural development and resource con-servations in Ethiopia. Traditionally, beekeeping has been managed as a sideline activity and its potential as sources of household income has been underutilized largely due to limited skills on the dynamics of nectar flow and its relationship to honeybee colony management. In this regard, various interventions and ap-proaches has been tested and promoted on bee forage development integrated with honeybee colony management to enhance market oriented beekeeping pro-ductivity. The approaches of bee forage interventions, achievements and lessons learned are presented.

Irrigated bee forage development: After intervention

Bottomlands bee for-age development: Be-fore (left) and after intervention (right)

Steep lands bee forage development: Before (left) and after interven-tion (right)

Backyard bee forage develop-ment: After intervention

Increasing nectar flow

Maximumnectar flow

Declining nectar flow

Month

JulyMarch October February

Nectar flow

status

Build up

Maximum

Decline

Month

JulyMarch October February

Hone

ybee

popu

latio

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Rainfall pattern

Uptake in Atsbi-Womberta district