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“I have kept bees for a long time. I joined this project during NAADS time. We had two projects – one for fish farming and another one for bee keeping. We got the training. After the training, we got hives as start-up kit. We started keeping bees and the harvests were very good. So, that motivated me to choose bee keeping.”
The Life as Beekeeper
Who belongs to your family / who is living with you?
My name is Kefa, from Vurra sub-county, Nyio parish, Lezuu village. My home is a God loving home. All my children are educated but all of them are away, working in different places. Unfortunately, I lost my dear wife very recently. So, currently, I am a widower, living alone at home.
How has beekeeping changed your life?
Bee keeping has changed my life in three different ways. – first I get money and that has helped me to pay school fees for my children. Secondly, I don’t drink sugar, I use honey instead. So, that makes me strong. Thirdly, people come here to learn about bees from me. So it has empowered me and I’m proud of that.
How do you provide a good environment for your bees?
Providing good environment for bees is fairly easy. But it is about the interest you have in it, because whether it is any other animal or even yourself, if you don’t take care of yourself, then that is not good. Bees should have a clean environment. You provide that by cleaning around the apiary, checking if there are insects or other pests disturbing them, or whether some hives have fallen down etc. That’s how you provide good environment for the bees.
What do trees mean to you and how can they be protected?
I like trees just like my own life. Trees are very important to me. You can see here there are a lot of trees. They help a lot. Trees provide timber, they give shade, they also help for the bees, especially the mangoes. So, trees are very important. Protecting them is by ensuring that people don’t cut them anyhow. My area here is fenced, so I have very little disturbance from outside.
Here I dig around the trees, I prune them and that keeps their environment free of bushes, and that means fire cannot burn them.
What is the most important thing in your life?
The most important thing in my life, first, is the fear of God. Secondly, agriculture is very important because when you have knowledge people will be coming to you and that makes you popular, so that is important to me.
What is the most important thing in your life?
Me, I value my life so much, I value my life. I protect my life. Me I don’t want to be attacked by strangers, because everything you do is for life.
What are your biggest challenges and how do you plan to overcome them?
The biggest challenge I have here is about land issues. People sometimes want to claim your property which is not good. Overcoming these problems requires the involvement of authorities. So, these days if somebody brings that kind of issues, I take them to the local courts.
What do you like to do in your free time?
During my free time, I mostly do Bible studies. But I also have a small shop where sometimes I sit and spend my free time.
Which place would you like to see once?
I have attended workshops in different places, in Kampala, Entebbe and here in Arua, I have attended workshops from all corners. The issue here is that if there was an opportunity to travel, say outside, like in Kenya I would love that so that I go and learn new things. Even if it means going to Germany, I would go, why not? I’m still strong, I can travel. I mostly ride bicycles so my muscles are still strong. I also dig. All that is good exercise.
