With the hike in the prices of honey in Ghana, Deputy Director for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Professor Charles Tortoe is calling for support for stakeholders in the beekeeping business to sustain their operations.

This, according to him, will serve as an avenue for more job creation, adding that such a move can attract investors.

Speaking to Joy Business at the World Bee Day 2022 celebration under the theme “Bee Engaged: Build Back Better for Bees”, Professor Charles Tortoe indicated that stakeholders in the bee business need to be engaged to enhance productivity in the sector.

“We should look at how well we can engage the bees for honey production. We are not doing that, it’s time we create this awareness to benefit from them. We can export honey and make some money from it, he said.

According to Research Fellow Dr. Courage Besah Adanua, “bees should not been seen as threat but good partners for job creation and revenue mobilisation”.

“For us to benefit more from this bees we need to have some bee hives for them even though we are advanced in honey production? We need to begin from there and develop it more, but we should not drive them away”, he stated.

President of the National Beekeepers Association, Patrick Addo Newman revealed that beekeeping contributes to sustainable livelihoods in poor and remote communities.

“It’s sad that we don’t develop proper ways to sustain this business; most households depend on this but we are neglecting the business”, he said.

World Bee Day 2022

The celebration is the second to have been held in Ghana. This year’s event was to raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats bees face and their contribution to sustainable development.

According to the United Nations and its Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 80% of human food is supplied by plants.

The loss of pollinators like bees, bats, birds, butterflies and more could lead to “an exponential loss of biodiversity, which would endanger the ecosystem.