In Rwanda, pesticides and deforestation hurt national honey production

Different factors, mainly the use of chemical pesticides that are not environmentally friendly and destruction of bee habitats, are behind the decrease in production of honey in parts of the country, researchers have found out. A conservation researcher, Prof Elias Bizuru who is also lecturer at University of Rwanda College of Science and Technology told The New Times that his research has found that, the production of honey is continuously decreasing because of likely land use change and bee population decrease according to his recent research. "In Nyamasheke district, for instance, the bee population has decreased to such an extent that the productivity of honey has decreased drastically. The production of honey, in one case, shifted from five tonnes per year down to 0.5 tonnes per year corresponding to a loss of 90 percent of honey production," he said, calling for integrating organic farming in agricultural practices. Organic farming is an agricultural system that uses ...