Since early morning citizens flocked, and there was momentum and movement from all those in charge of the second national festival of Yemeni honey and bee products, which aims to revive the place of honey in international forums and upgrade the marketing of Yemeni brands globally, in addition to publicizing high quality items.

Head of the Honey Unit in the Agricultural Committee, Muhammad Abbas, speaks to Saba net of the importance of holding such festivals aimed at promoting Yemeni honey and creating funding opportunities for projects in this important sector, noting that there are participants from all regions of Yemen and from Mahra, Hadramout and the occupied areas.

He explained that the honey product has a value that begins with the beekeeper, then the source, and then comes the consumer, and thus the holding of these festivals is a link to all of these and facilitating the product's access to the consumer.

The visitor, Muhammad Abdullah Al-Jaadbi, is looking for good prices for honey, and this is what the Honey Festival offers him, which is held in Al-Sabeen Park in the capital’s secretariat over a period of four days, where he describes the festival as "good" and that it has evolved from its previous organization.

Honey Check :

Dr. Fath Badi, an assistant professor at Dhamar University, has a laboratory that examines the quality and quality of honey in his laboratory established in 2017 and aims to thoroughly examine honey and its quality, where samples are brought into the laboratory to be examined. Due to the conditions experienced by the country due to aggression and blockade, progress in the work is extremely difficult.

"Honey is a very important topic in terms of its huge benefit to the economies of countries, especially our country, which produces many good honey that can compete with the finest honey in other countries." Dr. Fath, who sees the festival as an opportunity to meet and benefit from experiences.

Fath highlighted the possibility of creating a competitive environment by supporting models of beekeepers who collect honey in healthy ways and by modern means, they are trained in the production of honey with a single plant source and the examination of honey is given a certificate approved by the competent authorities in Yemen, which is supposed to have done a "stand up" work for Yemeni honey.

He said that scientific research in the field of Yemeni honey must be encouraged, because for ages honey has proven to be one of the most effective methods of pharmaceutical methods in the world.

Adel Ahmed Matar, a visitor, enthusiastically talks about his visit to the exhibition. "We are very pleased to bring together this number of Yemeni beekeepers to showcase their products and experiences. Such gatherings represent a great opportunity for both beekeepers and citizens. They facilitate the product's access to the consumer at the lowest prices and allow beekeepers to display its product with ease introducing it and finding out what the consumer prefers.

Facilities :

The Tax Authority exempts beekeepers from the allocated fees in order to support this important sector in the country, and this was confirmed to us by the head of the Tax Authority, Abdul Jabbar Ahmed Muhammad, where he says, “We extend our thanks and appreciation to the organizers of this festival, and we in the Tax Authority provide great facilities for beekeepers as they are exempt from taxes and we provide the necessary support to beekeepers, they constitute an important tributary of the economy in the country in terms of employing the workforce and also supplying the economy with hard currency.

Pollution and other problems :

Muhammad Saleh Al-Ashmouri from the Yemeni Honey World stores has been working for 28 years in the field of honey and talks about his participation in the second festival of honey, where he says, "We have many local and international participations, and we are happy to have such festivals held in Yemen because they represent an opportunity for beekeepers to share their products of honey, which is also It allows for meetings to discuss the needs of beekeepers and present their problems and difficulties they face.

One of the participants, Ahmed Shaya Al-Ashmouri, agrees that the festival is an opportunity to present the problems of beekeepers, and the most important of them - according to him - is the problem of logging that has appeared in recent years, which constitutes a major dilemma for beekeepers from all provinces.

In this context, Dr. Fatah says that Yemen lacks proper planning, real strategies, and accurate studies, and that there must be a correlation between all sciences that are supposed to lead to great results in various fields, including the field of honey, where a million Sidr trees are supposed to be planted, and vice versa. This perennial tree has been logging for thousands of years in Al-Usaimat and Tihama.

In recent years, multiple problems have emerged that confront beekeepers, such as restriction in movement from one area to another, in addition to the loss of hundreds of bee hives due to random spraying of agricultural lands with pesticides.

Many participating beekeepers believe that one of the most important problems they face is the issue of importing foreign honey, which negatively affects the marketing of their honey products to the local market, despite the fact that the local product is better than the imported one.

This is what Abbas referred to in his talk about the obstacles facing beekeepers in Yemen, where he says, "We have self-sufficiency in producing honey locally, and we have the ability to cover the market, but there are obstacles that hinder this, such as the import of some types of honey, and thus results in a problem in internal marketing."

Natural or Synthetic :

Many citizens ask about how to distinguish between natural and manufactured honey and how to ensure the quality of honey. Al-Ashmori explains that the issue of trust between the seller and the buyer is the most important pillar in knowing natural honey from industrial honey, and it can then be examined in a specialized laboratory for examining honey.

Sukaina Rajeh finds her way to find the natural "baladi" honey that she is looking for in festivals like this, about which she says, "I heard about the festival through mobile messages, and I have a special interest in honey and know its types, and I am also looking for the right price."

Hopes and Aspirations :

Umm Samir Saleh Al-Aqari, who is from Amran province, came to the festival with the aim of looking for support for her small apiary, which she establishes in her home and through her individual efforts. She says, "I own a small apiary of fourteen boxes, and I do not have enough experience in beekeeping, and I need support and training courses to produce more honey."

About 60 beekeepers compete in the festival, who offer discounts on honey prices and offer them at prices suitable for citizens.

Wrong Perception :

Regarding the expensive honey prices, Abbas says that there is a misconception about honey prices among the Yemeni citizen, and this information is wrong, due to the lack of awareness of the existence of famous and unknown honey, and some types of ordinary honey that are not known to the citizen have benefits and are available at reasonable prices.

Sadiq al-Jaouri visited the festival for the second time after his first visit last year, which he describes as beautiful and diverse, and as a qualitative leap to focus on the importance of Yemeni honey. He says, "The citizen must encourage such festivals that aim to improve the industry and production of honey in our country."

Akram al-Nahari from Abu Anas stores, one of the participants in the festival, says that their participation comes within the framework of supporting and marketing Yemeni honey and its products, especially after this sector was severely damaged in the previous period due to the economic conditions our country is going through and the great aggression and blockade.

Al-Nahari adds: "Yemeni honey is distinguished by its high quality and medicinal and nutritional value. Such festivals are considered fruitful opportunities that bring the consumer closer to the product and increase the citizen's knowledge of the types of honey."

Abdu Omar Hashem came from Hajjah Governorate to participate in the second honey festival, full of hopes and aspirations to convey a good image of authentic Yemeni honey, describing his participation in the festival as a good opportunity to display and market his products, as it stimulates the consumer’s purchase of locally manufactured honey, which is better than the external product and enjoys also at an affordable price and within everyone's reach.

Hashem, who inherited from his ancestors the profession of beekeeping and the honey industry, and gained experience in knowing the types of bees, tells us about the types he produces, as he says, "We produce different types of honey, according to the pastures that are moved to, such as Sidr in a number of valleys in the governorate of Hajjah (Mustaba-Rab’i-Ahem Bani Qais-Al-Dana’i) and beekeepers come from all regions of Yemen in the months of 10 and 11 of each year.

Regarding some other types that are produced by Hashem, he adds: "We also produce (Salam) honey from Hodeida, and (Mraee) honey (Samar) from Hajjah governorate, and our transportation is between the governorates of Jubailah, such as Hajjah, and Sahliya, such as Hodeida."

Hashem complains about the negative impact of qat pesticides on the production of bees, as he had to harvest the honey product before it was fully ripe in order to avoid its complete destruction. He wished to establish temporary reserves for the Sidr tree in some areas, especially Al-Usaimat, which is exposed to a lot of logging.

Written by Mayada Al-Awadhi

Source: Yemen News Agency