Guided by the broad beam of a flashlight, four beekeepers softly tread toward a wooden hive atop a mango tree in Bossangoa, a town in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR).
The area boasts lush and varied vegetation which helps account for the prized fragrance of its renowned honey.
Relying on the darkness to calm the bees, the team dislodges the buzzing hive to extract some of the precious nectar.
Photo: AFP
The Central African Republic was the continent’s fourth-biggest honey-producing nation in 2020 and ranked 20th in the world, UN Food and Agriculture Organization data showed.
However, nine years of dwindling resources and a civil war that left producers cut off and isolated have hampered the sector.
“Before the crisis, we sold our honey to neighboring countries and to [the capital] Bangui,” said Philippe Mobompte, secretary general of CAPICO, the regional beekeepers’ cooperative. “It’s difficult now.”
Photo: AFP
As one of the team frantically pumps metal bellows, the smell of burnt, dry grass wafts through the air. Using smoke is an age-old technique to reduce the bees’ aggressiveness.
“In Bossangoa, there are many shea trees, mango trees, papaya trees, grapefruit trees, banana trees... This is what lets us have high-quality honey,” Mobompte said.
The cooperative is supported by the international nonprofit Action Against Hunger, which provides modern hives and equipment such as honey extractors and protective clothing for harvesting.
Photo: AFP
In his beige overalls, 64-year-old Mobompte — who has 20 modern and 25 traditional hives — reaches for the first batch of the glistening honeycomb cells.
One of the poorest countries in the world, the former French colony was plunged into civil war in 2013.
A Muslim-dominated rebellion overthrew then-CAR president Francois Bozize, sparking reprisals from predominantly Christian and animist self-defense militias.
The fighting peaked in 2018 and rebel groups controlled two-thirds of the country’s territory until early last year. Rebels tried to oust CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera in late 2020 by launching an offensive on Bangui, but the army — with purported help from Russian mercenaries — repelled them.
However, the state still struggles to establish its authority in many remote areas of the vast nation.
Although the security situation has improved slightly in the past few years, conflict still affects communities farther away from Bangui, with sporadic fighting breaking out.
For Bossangoa’s beekeepers, the danger and upheaval has left its mark.
“I remember a period when Chadians, Cameroonians and Sudanese came to buy their honey here, but today consumption is low,” said Francine Webouna, 42, a honey trader in the Bossangoa market.
In February last year, Bossangoa, in the Ouham prefecture, was recaptured from rebels by the army.
Although calm has returned, the few hundred CAPICO beekeepers cannot venture far into the bush to further their operations.
“They might run into rebels who are still on the prowl,” Mobompte said.
He said that while “the armed groups never touched my hives, they looted and destroyed my house twice.”
“Taking the road to sell your honey is also dangerous, and expensive, because you can run into thugs and the taxes at the various checkpoints are high,” Mobompte added.
He is still marked by a recently assault on beekeepers from his cooperative as they headed to an agricultural fair.
Like the people he trains, Mobompte cannot live on the proceeds from honey.
“There are no outlets elsewhere and, locally, people do not consume enough of it. I am currently storing 200 liters of honey while waiting to find a buyer,” he said.
“A liter-and-a-half sells here between 2,000 and 2,500 CFA francs [US$2.97 and US$3.71],” the beekeeper said. “In the Central African Republic, it’s not a luxury product.”
Convinced of its quality, the cooperative’s members hope to branch out by processing their honey to manufacture derivative products.
In the current circumstances, that could prove a tall order.
“We could make food supplements, shoe polish, cosmetics and be recognized for this,” Mobompte said.
“But the lack of equipment, funds and knowledge do not facilitate this development,” he said, while mechanically wafting away bees around him.
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