Beekeepers under their umbrella body, The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation (TUNADO), have asked government to revisit locust control approaches as pesticides being sprayed are killing bees.
The beekeepers asked government to reduce the use of toxic pesticides and use safer selective pesticides.
Mr Dickson Biryomumaisho, the Executive Director of TUNADO, said beekeepers in Karamoja are already affected and that the toxic pesticides have worsened the problem.
Mr Biryomumaisho was addressing journalists yesterday at TUNADO headquarters in Kampala.
Chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin that are being used to spray locusts are non-selective pesticides that kill both the target pests, locusts and the unintended essential insects such as bees, according to Mr Biryomumaisho.
He said tree cutting had already affected the population of bees in northern Uganda.
“According to the reports we have, government will likely go into panic and spray anyhow due to the way they have popularised locusts to become a big issue. But what we see is that government shouldn’t panic, they should be calculative in their response process,” he said.
“We ask government to do thorough assessment before spraying. Let them look at the level of locust incidence verses the potential of negative effects of the intervention before taking action,” Mr Biryomumaisho said.
He also expressed worry over the potential of the pesticides to threaten the beehive products in world market.
The apiculture expert said honey and beeswax, produced for consumers in the country and export, will have residues of toxic pesticides.
“Even when pesticides don’t kill the bees, its residue will remain in honey and wax,” he said.
He said beekeeping employs 1.2 million people in Uganda with majority of them in northern Uganda.
“Last year, the sector contributed up to Shs60b to the economy. Northern Uganda is heavily involved in beekeeping. Beekeeping forms a very important part of livelihood option in the sub-regions of Acholi, Karamoja, West Nile and Lango, largely employing women and youth,” Mr Biryomumaisho said.
#DailyMonitor
Contact Jaguza Support