(ERGO) – Since turning to beekeeping a year ago, former pastoralist Abdi Isse Erag has been able to stabilise his earnings and raise his family’s living standard.
He used to have 150 goats, but they died gradually over the prolonged drought that hit hard in parts of central Somalia’s Mudug region.
“Besides the bees, I don’t have any other income. We depend on the bees now,” said Abdi, who sold off his last remaining camel for $700 and bought six beekeeping boxes for $300.
He was introduced to beekeeping by his friends. He told Radio Ergo that he is more productive now than when he was rearing livestock. After the recent rainfall, the trees and flowers have flourished and in June his bees produced 10 litres of honey that earned him $150 in sales largely in Mogadishu.
“In the future I hope for something good from this business, I believe it’s going to sustain me and my family,” he said. “I hope to make a good living for myself and build a house for my family.”
Abdi’s eight children are all attending Koranic school in Bandiradley and he pays $10 fees for each. He has been able to pay back $400 of the $1,200 loan that he took during the hard months between February and May.
Another Bandiradley pastoralist, Nur Matan Diriye, says beekeeping has enabled him to start recovering from the suffering he endured during the past three years of drought, when he lost 300 goats.
Last December he started keeping his own bees after receiving a $600 investment from relatives.
“The work of beekeeping is very good. It is something that anyone who learns about it can live and rely on. But it’s very difficult in the beginning,” he warned.
Nur learned the patience and knowledge needed for bees by working as an employee on a bee farm earning $100. Now with his own business he makes $300-500 a month.
“I manage my life and provide for the education of my children. I can afford to cover all our needs. You can’t imagine how life-changing eight boxes of bees is for a poor person like me – despite all our struggles and challenges there are no more problems to be afraid of.”
In June, he sold 50 litres of honey for $600. He is paying $20 a month for his three children, two boys and a girl, in middle school. So far he had paid off $500 of the $1,500 loan he took to feed his family before he started the business.
The chairman of a cooperative of beekeepers in Mudug region, Abdikadir Ali Said, said 180 people living in Bandiradley district and its surrounding areas are keeping bees. Many could see the economic opportunity but lacked adequate knowledge.
“The most important thing they need now is training because almost 80 per cent of these people didn’t know anything about bees. They heard about bees and just turned to beekeeping,” he said.
