: First Person: The honey business owner creating a buzz in northern Uganda #IndiaNEWS #International Sam Aderubo started his company, Honey Pride, in Arua, northern Uganda, in order to make a positive

First Person: The honey business owner creating a buzz in northern Uganda #IndiaNEWS #International
Sam Aderubo started his company, Honey Pride, in Arua, northern Uganda, in order to make a positive impact on his community. With support from the UN, the business is taking off, providing work for hundreds of local beekeepers, many of whom are marginalized women and youth.

“I used to work in an office, and people would come to my place of work to sell ‘West Nile honey’, named after the region I come from. I was interested to see that my region was being used as a brand, and discovered that West Nile is one of the top ranked regions in Uganda for the production of honey.
So, I decided that I would come back home, and start a company to serve my community.

UN News/ Hisae Kawamori
Sam Aderobu, found of Honey Pride

A product in demand
The product is in demand, both locally and internationally, and has positive medicinal and food properties. We realized that there is strong potential to produce it on a large scale.
However, many people in this region are only collecting honey in a traditional way, as a hobby. We decided to give farmers guidance, and provide them with the necessary skills because before, they were working without any formal support; no-one was willing to invest in supporting them to improve the quality of their honey.
Today, we’re working with over 1,700 farmers, who harvest honey from apiaries on their land. We provide a reliable market for them, which encourages them to produce more.

UN News/ Hisae Kawamori
Beekeeper Betty Ayikoru, Arua, northern Uganda

Economy, environment and society
We believe that if beekeeping is taken to a level where farmers understand it as a as a business, its going to improve their livelihoods; when we started the business in 2015, a kilo of honey sold for around 3,500 Ugandan Shillings. Today it’s about 7,000 Shillings. This has motivated many farmers to go into beekeeping.
Now they can afford basic necessities, and they don’t have to worry about going hungry. They can buy goats and other animals, and pay their children’s school fees. Some have even been able to acquire property. Beekeeping is changing their lives.
Our vision was to be a market leader in the sale of sustainable beehive products in the Great Lakes region, and to sell globally. Our products are now meeting international standards, and are being accepted in foreign marketp�ˈ��x�&�H�Z[��Z[HYX�]YX[�Y�[Y[�X[K[�X[�Hو[H�H[�[��[�K��x�&�H�][��[��HH��ܘ[[YH�[��HH��[�YܚX�[�Hܙ�[��][ۈ
�S�K�X��Y��[��H]]YHو[�]�ؙ�YܚX�[�K[��^H�[��H[�]�]Y�[X��X�HYܚX�[�H�H�ݘ�Hو[�[Y[��