Awareness Campaign on Beekeeping in Institutions of Learning and Rural Communities in Nigeria: The need for policy intervention

¹Muhammad R. Ja’afar-Furo, and Umar A. Madu

Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Adamawa State University, PMB 25, Mubi, Nigeria.

Accepted 13, March 2016

This paper attempts to highlight the importance of incorporation of improved methods of beekeeping/apiculture in the curricula of institutions of learning in the country, farm training centers of Ministries of Agriculture and its Parastatals, research centers and Non-governmental organisations and other skills acquisition or demonstration centers in the rural and urban communities. The need stemmed from findings of a recent global survey which revealed huge dearth of information on modern methods of bee farming among the academia, public and private agricultural sectors, and the major segments of the societal strata. Having identified the immense profits accruable to this enterprise by several authors across the world, and the huge potentials Nigeria possesses with regards to this farming business, there can be no any other better platform of massive enlightenment than this medium. The efforts made in this awareness will go a long way toward sensitizing both the policymakers of public and private sectors in using this enterprise to solve the issue of massive unemployment in the economy which negative effects served as the major cause of restiveness experienced in Nigeria in recent years. It is strongly hoped that all and sundry should use this farming business as a panacea in stabilizing the economy by heeding the present government’s call of diversification of the country’s sources of revenue rather than relying solely on crude oil that has attained its diminishing return.

Key words: Apiculture, awareness, beekeeping, communities, institutions, learning, Nigeria.

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