Assessing honey production value chain in Lira Sub-county, Lira District, northern Uganda

摘要

AstudywasconductedtoassesshoneyproductionvaluechainwithaviewofimprovinghouseholdincomesinLirasub-county,Liradistrict,Uganda.Atotalof60respondentswereusedforthestudyinfourdifferentparishesofthesubcounty.Datawerecollectedusingstructuredquestions,observations,andinterviews.Secondarysourcesofdatawerealsoreviewed.nbsp;Mostrespondentswhokeptbeesweremales,werebetween26-30yearsandhadlittleformaleducation.Localbeehiveusagewashigherthanmodernbeehives.Thenumberofcolonizedbeehiveswasmorethanthatofeitherun-colonizedorabscondedbeehives.Localbeehivesweremorecolonizedthanimprovedbeehives.Themajorityofrespondentsusedfireduringharvestinghoney,didnotprocesstheirhoneyandusedplasticbottlesandJericansaspackagingmaterials.Mostrespondentsindicatedthathoneybeesdependedonnaturalforagesourcesforhoneyproduction,althoughsomeplantedforagesorsupplementedforageswithsugarsyrup,maizeandcassavaflour.Themainwatersourcesforbeeswereswampsandmorningdew.Honeywasmainlysoldtovendorsintradingcentres,whiletheleastquantityofhoneywassoldtosupermarkets.Apiculturecontributedmoreincometohouseholdscomparedtootherlivestockspecies.Theinvestmentinapicultureperhectarewasalsohigherthanotherlivestockspecies.Lackofknowledgeandskillsandpoorharvestingtechniqueswerethemajorlimitationstohoneyproduction.BeekeepingindustryinUgandacallsforcommittedmenandwomenwhoarebusinessmindedtoworkwithallthestakeholdersalongthevaluechaintobringcommercializationofbeekeepingandmarketingofhoneyandby-productstoareality.