One On One With Dickson Biryomumaisho – The Merchant To a Fast Growing Sector

Tell us about yourself

My name is Biryomumaisho Dickson, The Executive Director for The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation (TUNADO), am an academician, international apiculture expert with bias in commercial entomology and a specialist in MBO management. I am also a social entrepreneur and happily married with children.  

Since your appointment, what has changed in the Apiculture sector across Uganda?

I must say quite a lot of positive transformations have transpired as much as a lot needs to be done. Just a flash back,

• Beekeeping was a disregarded sector and less appreciated by the public. Together with other sector players and team at TUNADO, we have made beekeeping one of the highly cherished enterprises.  We now have proud beekeepers who aren’t shy from mentioning their livelihood and occupation as a beekeeper. I remember when I finished University with first class and then later meeting friends and they ask where you are now, then I respond am a beekeeper. They look at me with faces folded what is that. Today, they called me and ask how we start beekeeping while others have since joined to work with me on the sector.

There are people once recognizing when it comes to beekeeping sector, they worked very hard to ensure that we achieve unity in the sector. Did you know beekeeping was the most disorganized sector and people never even wanted to see each other by face. I remember I called a meeting and one of participant stood and said, I can’t talk and sit in a meeting where so and so is. Another one stood up and told another one to shut up with physical fighting etc. I therefore want to thank H.E the President of Republic of Uganda Kaguta Museveni, Hon Prof Mondo Kagonyera, Hon Dr. Bright Rwamirama -Minister AI,  Dr. Kauta (former Director  Animal resources, Ms Alice Kangave  former Asst Commission- MAAIF), Ms Magrete Ogaba, Dr Nicola Bradbear- CEO Bees for Development, Mr. Elly Mugisha, Mr. Bagonza Adolf, Mr. Jurua Jackson-former chairperson TUNADO, Her Excellency Maria Odido-First Chairperson TUNADO. Mr. Ndyabarema Robert- former ED TUNADO, Late Magezi Eliezer, Late Erikim Obonya,  Prof Robert Kajobe, Prof Donald Kugonza, Mr. Dauda Mugisa,  Mr. Bosco Okello and many others they worked very hard and guided the sector to unit under one roof.

• I can therefore now talk with confidence that than ever before, the sector is more cohesive. We have managed to bring the entire sector under one roof (TUNADO). We had big divisions in our Sector and many beekeepers were working alone towards individual gains and success but majority are now working together, sharing information and innovations to promote our sector.
• It’s unbelieved but true that beekeepers are now constructing own home and the biggest honey export hubs in east and Central Africa that will house product Development, laboratories, training centre, national storage, and demo apiaries for training upcoming beekeepers. This will further organize our sector in terms of export of various bee products.
• Uganda now boosts of 1,200,000 beekeepers with over 48,000,000kgs of honey produced annually worth UGX 384 Bn (approximately USD 103.8M annually). Compared to all other sectors, one can say that the country earns without expenditure for more than 95% of things used to produce honey are locally available unlike other sectors where almost more than 60-100% of things required are imported. Let me even pretend that I do not know the role of bees in providing pollination services to crops including coffee, fruits etc almost 80% of crops grown in Uganda. Just imagine the economic value.

• One of the biggest challenges we used to have were low quality, lack of market for bee products and access to credit for apiculture investment. I must say there is a study progress. Thanks to UNBS for making it possible to certify Ugandan honey and other bee products. Before I continue to those consuming imported honey, I Pray for you. Look at the level of pesticides used outside countries to produce food and still feel proud consuming such honey with lots of agro-chemicals. Always remember that Uganda we use less chemicals and hence nonresidues honey. This is evidenced by Ugandan honey continuing to pass NRMP that allows us to be among third world countries to export honey and other bee products to Europe. Thanks to MAAIF for implementing NRMP. It’s important for every Ugandan to know that demand for honey and other bee products exceeds production. The market is organized under one social company World of Bees to make it easy to export Ugandan bee products. Let us all join hands here and be in a money economy. 

I can therefore now talk with confidence that than ever before, the sector is more cohesive. We have managed to bring the entire sector under one roof (TUNADO). We had big divisions in our Sector and many beekeepers were working alone towards individual gains and success but majority are now working together, sharing information and innovations to promote our sector.

• The beauty is that we now have national beekeepers training and extension manual with a lot of user guides that we have developed. Hence access to information to help you start beekeeping is no longer a challenge.

• Besides, there is diversification in the sector. Apart from honey the most known and majorly traded bee product, there are now other highly profitable value added products such as beeswax, propolis, bee venom, cosmetics, pollen, wines and confectionaries. This has been because of deliberate interventions in exposing and training members.

I remember when I joined it was as if beekeeping was only meant for old men. We had to turn this analogy around today, women and youth participation in beekeeping. to 40% and this has been as a result of offering tailored beekeeping training packages and changes in policy. Thanks to Government, Development Partners, membership, board of directors and staff, that have supported our cause to make beekeeping inclusive.

What are some of the issues that affect the Apiculture sector and how can they be resolved?

There are 4 major issues affecting the apiculture sector:

• Reducing bee habitat as a result of deforestation. We have adopted agroforestry so that beekeepers’ plant multipurpose trees like coffee, macadamia, cashew nuts, shea nut trees, citrus fruits, etc. so as to provide forage for bees and a sustainable alternative source of income for beekeepers.
• Misuse of agrochemicals that indiscriminately kill pollinators which is leading to reduced bee stock. We ask Government and stakeholders to create awareness on right use of agrochemicals and ban importation of dangerous agrochemicals that have been baned for use elsewhere in the World. Uganda is not a dumping and testing ground for chemicals.
• Lack of data to guide sector planning. We challenge Government to look into this and any other partners to work with and conduct a census for the sector.
• Limited extension services due to limited funds to recruit extension staff across the country, which affects productivity, quality of bee products. We have rolled out a low cost model-Rural Transformation Centers that builds capacity of TUNADO’s institutional members to use their structures to recruit and cascade trainings to other people in beekeeping as part of strengthening their sourcing structures. We also ask Government to recruit entomologists and appreciate bees as pollinators.

I’m not a self-seeker,  I always want to see growth pertaining to everyone that I work with and  for. I always want to share my little achievements with people around me. 

What measures are you putting in place to ensure the youth and other persons such as PwDs, the women and youth productively contribute to the sector?

I want to say that TUNADO has done a lot of work on Inclusion of youth, PwDs and women when it comes to beekeeping. The change started in 2016 at policy level, where TUNADO developed gender policy, disability inclusion policy, that have shaped our programming as an organization. Inclusion of youth, women, persons with disabilities has become part of our DNA e.g. 30% of our budget goes towards gender mainstreaming, 5% towards PwDs inclusion.

We have evolved as an organization to make our interventions friendly to youth, right from the communication channels that we use, the extension staff are all youth, we have developed simple and short beekeeping training guides and posted them on YouTube and other social media sites to enable the youth to access and get engaged in beekeeping.

Your favourite book or quote?

“Nothing gives a person more confidence…than to be zipped snugly inside a bee suit.”-Sue Hubbell.

Virtues that define you?

I’m not a self-seeker,  I always want to see growth pertaining to everyone that I work with and  for. I always want to share my little achievements with people around me. 

How has your position at TUNADO shaped your personality?

It is a position I took on when I was still a youth, and this made me attain an early responsibility of being accountable to all the 1,200,000 beekeepers countrywide. I appreciate that being ED of a dynamic and first growing member-based organization has humbled me to be, a good listener, seek advice, and above all respect everyone that is contributing to the success of our sector.

For God and my Country.

Dickson Biryomumaisho