Bees/o/ Development Journal 81 BEEKEEPING IN CABINDA

BEEKEEPING IN THE ENCLAVE OFCABINDA, ANGOLA

Cabinda Province in the north-west of Angola is a separate enclave fromthe rest of Angola, located above the Congo River. It has three mainagro-climatic regions: a dense tropical forest at high altitudes, thecentral region - savanna interspersed with small forested areas, and thesouthern region and coast, which is savanna with scrub cover and sandysoils. Both the north and the centre have occasional problems withsecurity as a result of activity by rebels seeking independence forCabinda.

HistoryThe Portuguese colonised Cabinda in 1885, more than 300 years afterthe rest of Angola. The Treaty of Simulambaco in 1885 recognisedCabinda's special status as a semi-autonomous state. It was not until1956 that the two Portuguese colonies were joined together, but withoutnegotiating with Cabinda. Rebellions began immediately and in 1974the collapse of the Portuguese Fascist Government necessitated therelease of colonial holdings. In 1977 the Liberation Front of the CabindaEnclave (FLEC) announced a provisional government of the Republic ofCabinda. At the heart of the matter is oil, for Cabindan oil providesAngola with about half of its foreign exchange earnings. Although greatlydecreased in recent years, sporadic guerrilla warfare still takes place inthe far north of the country, however recent peace negotiations arelessening this.

Project purposeI was invited by the Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC) throughACDI/VOCA's Cabinda Agribusiness Development Alliance (CADA) inJanuary-February 2006, and returned in July to follow-up. The purposeof the CADA Project is to leverage private-sector and US donor funds,together with ACDI/VOCA's agribusiness development expertise, to

Nathan Emery

increase household wealth for a large number of families in CabindaProvince.

Beekeeping had not been known in Cabinda prior to the project althoughhoney hunting is prevalent. I spent time with the honey hunters anddocumented their craft as they are the main beneficiaries of thebeekeeping initiative. The project was the brainchild of David Benafel,the Chief of Party for the CADA Project, and Paulino Poba, the CADATraining and Extension Officer. We worked particularly with honeyhunter, Eduardo Ngoma, who has plied his craft for 30 years in CongoBrazzaville, Cabinda and DR Congo. Mr Ngoma was eager to become abeekeeper and received two hives.

A market survey in Cabinda city found that most honey in shops isimported from Greece and Portugal. Local honey is sold on the strejand is comparable in price to the professionally-packaged, importproducts in the shops, selling for approximately US$15/kg. The localproduct is poorly processed and bottled in recycled wine bottles.Consumption in Cabinda city alone is 3-4 tonnes a year, leaving greatscope for building a small beekeeping industry.

Local consumers indicated that they prefer local honey to that importedinformally from Congo Brazzaville and DR Congo, as this honey is saidto be watered down and impure. One of the interesting reasons whyhoney is consumed in Cabinda is the folkloric belief that it protects theconsumer against poisoning.

Project activitiesThe CADA Project had imported expensive frame hives, beekeepingtools and protective clothing from Brazil, in anticipation of my arrival.The sustainability of this equipment did not factor into the equation andwas a great problem, and we began to make equipment from localresources at a fraction of the cost.

I introduced straight-sided top-bar hives, as these have workedme in trials in Ghana and Lesotho. Cabinda lies within the greater (Tropical Forest area and consequently there are many choices for goodhardwoods from which to make hives. We used Clomphora excelsa(Kambala) and Terminalia superba (Limba) for the top-bars and hivebodies respectively. The majority of the project beneficiaries were goodcarpenters and the first 25 hives were made in two days.

I have noticed the lack of any kind of treatment to the wood used forhive bodies in various projects in Africa. This is probably due to the highcost of paint. I advocate a very simple method of dipping in hot, usedmotor oil, which is effective and cheap, without any refusal by the bees.This is a well known method for treating commercial hives inSouth Africa.

CABGOC has a seemingly infinite supply of good pine and ply-woodcrating that is given to the local oil workers to re-sell in the market. Arequest has been made to obtain this material to make hive bodies andsturdy trap boxes, which will further bring the cost of the project down,making it more replicable and sustainable. A smoker was made by alocal tin-smith, in conjunction with an upholsterer, at a fraction of thecost of the Brazilian smoker. Veils were made from straw hats withmosquito netting. Catcher boxes were constructed from throw-awaycartons and plastic sheeting, baited with wax from our honey huntingexcursions, as well as locally grown lemon grass~

BfD TRUST NEWS Bees/w Development Journal 81

Originally hive stands were made with the hive hanging from the localvines, smeared with grease. This proved to be ineffective against thehighly organised species of ant, Tetraponera aethiops. Between Februaryand July all the hives were inhabited at one time or another, but eachswarm absconded due to lack of defence against the ants. We have nowmodified the stands to have large, powdered milk can bases into whichwe pour used motor oil.

Project goalsThe project plans are to make a further 300 hives and harvest at leasttwo tonnes of honey within the next 18 months. The Department ofForestry (IDF) has shown interest in the project. An IDF extensionworker, with some training in beekeeping is working with ManuelNguimiti, one of the local honey hunters who has shown interest andleadership in this start-up operation. Mr Nguimiti is a former FLECrebel turned carpenter and honey hunter.

The main honey flow is June-August with minor flows in September-October and December-January. Some of the major floral sources areAlbizia ferruginea, Canarium schweinfurthii, Chromoleana odorata,Coffea robusta, Dacryodes pubescens, Peterinthus macmcarpus,

'Wadeniatrum africanum, Swatzia fistuloides, and Terminalia superba,^rongst many others.

IDF had instituted a Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) mitigation schemein the savanna areas of Cabinda using IUCN sanctioned methods ofchilli pepper deterrents. The method was proving highly fallible and Iexplained a project I set up in 2004 around Mole National Park inGhana, using hive barriers for HEC mitigation. This intervention workedvery successfully and it was a wholly indigenous concept as the localpeople were well aware of the elephants1 aversion to bees: there is evena Builsa proverb stating the case. We are now in the process ofinstituting this programme in Cabinda.

[see Bees for Development Journal 65 for more about HEC - Ed]

Project outcomeWe produced an area-specific 165 page manual full of pictographsshowing how to make and place hives and trap boxes, management,pest control, honey harvesting and processing, a section on traditionalhoney hunting practices and a nectar survey of over 70 species. Wehope to translate the manual into Portuguese.

The English edition is for sale (price £28; €42) seewww.beesfordevelopment.org

Nathan Emery is Director of Bio Africa and lives inL esotho. www. bioafrica. co. za

The author and the beekeeping group beneficiaries

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