By OBAKENG MAJE
A beekeeper in Letlhapong village, near Taung said beekeeping farming is a profitable business and cost-effective. Nkululeko Kula (32) said he started the business after he quit his day-to-day job in Kimberley, in Northern Cape a few years ago.
Kula said those who are aspiring beekeepers, need to equip themselves with knowledge and techniques of bee farming before anything else. He further said, there are specific techniques such as understanding how to manage the bees.
“I encourage other young people to embark on bee farming. However, they need to know the structure of the hive, how bees function and their favourite foods.
“There are other challenges such as predators and diseases that might affect one’s business. Also, understanding the market is very imperative. As we speak, I produce 132 litres of honey and I do not have a market,” he said.
Kula further said he started his own business by going to the forest and fetching bees. He added that his business grew in leaps and bounds over the years.
“I received support from the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). It has been three years since running this business and I was happy when I received boxes from the NYDA to house the bees.
“What I can say is that bee farming is cost-effective compared to other businesses like poultry, animal farming and others. When you do bee farming, you do not have to feed them because they can fend for themselves,” said Kula.
He said what he does is just harvest honey and sell it. Kula said he is grateful that he recently received a call from a service provider in Rustenburg to provide him with honey and that will assist his business with market opportunities.
“You can use honey to produce various products and you can also use it for human consumption. I still need more boxes because the demand is high. I am happy to see the government committing to assist me as this will assist me to create more job opportunities too.
“Remember, I also do crop farming too and the little I get, I use it to support my family. I will be grateful if I become a commercial beekeeper one day and see my business growing,” he said.
Meanwhile, the deputy minister in the presidency for women, youth and persons with disability, Sisisi Tolashe, who visited Kula on 26 June 2023 said, the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Development Model (DDM) has declared the year 2023 “A Year of Implementation”.
“It means all hands must be on deck to accelerate the provision of service delivery and implementation of developmental projects. Part of this plan focuses on providing opportunities to the youth residing in the district by utilising youth development programmes led by key stakeholders in relevant sectors.
“We visited the district to address key issues that were raised during the engagement by understanding the differential circumstances in society. Also, is to ensure socio-economic empowerment and through capacity building to participate meaningfully in all areas of the economy and the workplace in the district,” said Tolashe.
She said in order for the state to function and perform optimally and effectively, every organ of the state has to perform its core functions well and work harmoniously with other organs of the State and with civil society.
Tolashe said the “pattern of operating in silos” is a challenge, which has led “to lack of coherence in planning and implementation and has made monitoring and oversight of the government’s programme difficult”.
The Guardian 