Abstract
Swaziland has substantial potential in beekeeping with her rich flora, proper ecological conditions and existence of colonies. However, the Swaziland beekeeping sector has not yet efficiently utilized the rich natural resources. The apiculture sector in Swaziland is still faced with challenges in respect to marketing and importation as a result of the quality of honey and competition from South African honey. The objectives of the study were to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of beekeeping farmers and determine the factors affecting honey production among smallholder beekeepers. Primary data was collected from 37 randomly selected respondents from a population of 63 beekeepers. The results revealed that 62.2% of the respondents were married, 32.4% were above the age of 55, and mostly 86.5% used the Swazi top-bar types of hives. The results further showed that honey production was explained by the farmer’s experience and colony size, implying that an increase in the farmer’s experience by 1% would result in 0.41% increase in the amount of honey produced, while a 1% increase in colony size would result in 0.57% increase in honey production. The study has shown that there are plenty opportunities to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers by engaging in beekeeping. In order for farmers to improve their honey production, they need to increase the colony size and also use langstroth beehives because of their high productivity. Key words: Beekeeping, honey production, socioeconomic analysis.
Highlights
Agriculture and the economy in SwazilandAgriculture is the backbone of Swaziland’s economy and a major source of livelihood for rural households with about three quarters (70%) of the population relying on this sector for a living (Thompson, 2010)
The country has always benefited from the European Union (EU) markets which offered a higher price for sugar
Most beekeepers were between the age of 15 to 40 years, which shows that beekeeping in the two areas studied (Ludzeludze and Mahlangatsha), was mostly done by the youth
Summary
Agriculture is the backbone of Swaziland’s economy and a major source of livelihood for rural households with about three quarters (70%) of the population relying on this sector for a living (Thompson, 2010). The country has always benefited from the European Union (EU) markets which offered a higher price for sugar. Such an arrangement was phased out and as a result the price showed a decline. This development has caused the need to diversify the agricultural sector in order to enhance its contribution to the economic growth of the country. The identification of commodities with the opportunity for value adding is a priority for the country (Total Transformation Agribusiness (PTY) LTD, 2008). Thompson (2010), state that agriculture contributes about 12.7% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)
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