Makoni beekeepers shine

Lovemore Kadzura
THE Makoni Beekeepers’ Association, a consortium of 96 beekeepers, is growing from strength to strength as evidenced by a number of achievements it has recorded within its short period of existence.

Founded in July 2014, the association has managed to showcase their unique shrewdness in harnessing available local resources to earn a decent living.

The consortium has managed to produce a massive seven tonnes of raw honey in its first year. It has gone further to process and package its own honey. The packaged honey passed Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) laboratory tests and received nod to have it exported to COMESA and East African Community (EAC) markets.

Chairman of the Makoni Beekeepers’ Association Mr Robert Mutisi said their organisation had defied all odds and managed to exhibit their product at national and regional competitions where they have scooped top prizes.

“Our association is dreaming big and some of the dreams are actually coming to fruition because we have managed to post tremendous achievements within a short time since our formation. We have exhibited at various expos and shows and where we performed wonders. We came second at the continental Api Expo, where there were nations such as South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Mauritius, Botswana and Rwanda.

“We have been invited to participate at the Api-Expo Africa 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda. This is a clear testimony that in our short space of existence we have made a huge impact.

“Most beekeepers sell raw honey (unprocessed) but we have gone a step further to process and package our own product thereby maximising our earnings. Our honey was tested and met the Zimbabwe Standards Association requirements. This means that we can now export to COMESA and EAC markets. We are in the process of attaining the export permit,” Mr Mutisi said.

Mr Mutisi further said his association was aiming to train many beekeepers as possible in order to grow their membership thereby boosting their production volumes.

He also said beekeeping was changing lives for their members as they were now able to cover the basic necessities of life from honey production.

“We want to change our lives through the keeping of bees and production of honey so we intend to grow our membership. We are taking beekeeping as a business and it is paying dividends to many families. It is providing households with additional income. We are now able to pay school fees, medical bills and other expenses,” he said.