MICHAEL Welch, Specialist attached to the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), is encouraging beekeepers to make a “dent” in the quantity of honey Guyana imports.

During his presentation at the closing ceremony of an entrepreneurial and apiculture training programme, recently held in Linden, Welch stated that in 2018, Guyana imported 27,799 kilograms of honey at a value of $13 million.
“The markets are there, the opportunities are there but we have to ramp up production to ensure quality and quantity and that you have handsome prices,” he noted.

The six-day training programme targeted mainly farmers within Region 10. The participants were taught beekeeping, apiary planning principles and going into value-added production.

The training aimed to push agriculture in Linden in keeping with the vision of the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN).

The presentation which aimed at sensitizing the beekeepers on how they can collaborate with the public sector to make it in the apiculture industry, also educated the beekeepers on how they can promote and grab the attention of existing and potential honey markets.

“We are talking about honey and its associated products, and it is important that we know what strategy we need to use to get into the market in terms of selling our products,” he noted.

Welch pointed out that in order for beekeepers to capture the attention of existing markets, they should produce healthy, safe products and should use technology that is environmentally friendly.

He advised, “Whatever you take to your consumers must be safe, wholesome and[you] must ensure that when they consume your product, they will not get ill, which is very important. And in whatever you do, you must not destroy the environment. So we must ensure that we use technology that is environmentally friendly.”

Value added
The specialist pointed out that beekeepers in Guyana should definitely develop their value-added chain by not only producing primary products, but secondary products as well.

“You can develop your value chain, because if you produce a primary product, you do not make as much money as the person who adds value, through processing, to that product, they get more money,” he stated.

Welch encouraged the beekeepers and entrepreneurs to be innovative and think of producing products that consumers are willing to pay high prices for.
He indicated that the GLDA is willing to work with beekeepers from all 10 of Guyana’s regions, in order to develop the county’s apiculture industry.
“You are a part of the private sector, we are a part of the public sector and we are coming together to ensure that we can gain the capacity and technology for you to produce, go out there and make money for yourself and your family,” Welch assured.

Apiculture is an environmentally sustainable activity for Guyana due to the rich biodiversity of plants that exist within the country, which will allow bees to garner nectar to produce honey. Welch also urged them to pay attention to how they promote their products since it is vital for making inroads into existing and potential markets. According to Welch,
He noted that apiculture is a part of the government’s policy of promoting food security through producing “our own food” and it also provides employment, which results in the creation of wealth.

The GLDA is a semi-autonomous agency, established in 2010. The formation was a combination of the Livestock Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and that of the National Agricultural Research & Extension Institute (NAREI).
According to the Ministry of Agriculture’s website, the objective of the agency is to “promote greater efficiency in the livestock product industry and to provide enhanced services in livestock husbandry, livestock health and research so as to make provision for effective administration and regulation of trade, commerce and export of livestock or livestock products and for matters related and incidental.”