Kenya’s beekeeping industry gained momentum from the Turkish Co-operation and Coordination Office (TIKA), Turkey’s leading aid agency. The country is among the best honey producers in Africa and has close ties with Turkey.
On Tuesday, Kenya’s National Beekeeping Institute received a supply of equipment from Turkey to increase the quality of honey produced in the East African country. “Today we are very happy to have the support of the Turkish government. This is really important to us because our institute, the National Beekeeping Institute, lacked very crucial equipment,” said Hillary Kimutai, the state secretary general. Department of Livestock, told Anadolu Agency (AA) in the capital Nairobi. Kimutai oversaw the transfer of the equipment, which cost 5 million Kenya shillings (approximately $ 46,000), from TIKA.
He thanked Turkey for helping Kenya in its efforts to achieve full food and nutrition security, one of the East African country’s most important agendas. “It has been really difficult to ensure the safety of what we produce and more specifically honey. This equipment will support this institute and support the State Department of Livestock.” The official added that the equipment would enable the Kenyan beekeeping sector to enter East African markets, increase sales and improve the supply of small-scale beekeepers. “To the Turkish people who have donated this equipment, we want to thank them and the sacrifice they have made. I want to tell them that they have changed this other country. We take this message to the beekeepers to tell them what we can do is due to the Turkish government.
Digital refractometers, which help determine the moisture content of honey, were among the equipment supplied by TIKA’s Nairobi coordinator Eyüp Yavuz Umutlu. Other equipment includes a nitrogen generator, which enables testing of antibiotic contamination in honey, and tools to facilitate the streamlining of training and meetings at the National Beekeeping Institute, including digital projectors, printers and laptops.
Jane Kariuki, a laboratory technician at the institute, told AA: “We have not been able to use the equipment we acquired in 2016 because we did not have a nitrogen generator. Today we tested for tetracycline with data using the connected Turkish aid will keep our farmers equal “Our market will grow thanks to Turkish aid, we will be able to collect samples to convince our East African society that our honey is good when we move towards the European market.”
For its part, TIKA’s Umutlu said that Kenyan honey was now “open to not only the Kenyan market but the East African market.” Now they can easily analyze the honey … (for) antibiotics, pesticides and sugar levels using this equipment. We are very happy to be here because we know that honey production is one of the crucial areas for Kenya, “he added. According to the National Biodling Institute, the last country outside Africa to support Canada was in the 1980s.
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