The slender one climbs with difficulty to dislodge the buzzing trap and hands it to the others. They rely on the darkness calming the bees to extract some nectar.
The Central African Republic was, in 2020, the twentieth largest honey-producing country in the world and the fourth in Africa, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). But the civil war for nine years, the isolation of producers and the lack of means have slowed down the development of the sector.
Clouds of smoke flood the scene. According to the ancestral technique of beekeepers around the world – to reduce the aggressiveness of bees who think the colony is under fire and gather together in the hive to protect their queen – one of the men frantically presses the bellows of his metal smoker. A smell of burnt dry grass wafts through the air.
The vegetation is lush. “In Bossangoa, there are many shea trees, mango trees, papaya trees, grapefruit trees, banana trees… This is what allows us to have high quality honey”, enthuses Philippe Mobompte, Secretary General of the Ouham Beekeepers’ Cooperative (CAPICO), supported by the international NGO Action Against Hunger, which provides members with modern hives, smokers, honey extractors and harvesting clothes.
In his beige jumpsuit, threadbare from the many hours of harvesting in his 20 modern and 25 traditional hives, Mr. Mobompte seizes the first ray of which only the cells holding the precious nectar shine in the night.
– Armed groups –
Although it has decreased considerably in intensity since 2018, the civil war that began in 2013 still affects communities as one moves away from Bangui.
In 2013, an armed coalition dominated by Muslims, the Séléka, overthrew President François Bozizé, who then brought together predominantly Christian and animist militias, the anti-balakas.
Both sides fought a bloody war in which civilians were the main victims. Then these armed groups became criminal or rebel movements, predators of the country’s resources.
They still occupied two-thirds of the country in December 2020, when mercenaries from the private Russian company Wagner, called to the rescue by President Faustin Archange Touadéra, helped the army repel them from most of these territories. Today, sporadic fighting breaks out here and there, like the abuses and crimes of both sides against civilians according to the UN.
“Before the crisis, we sold our honey to neighboring countries and to Bangui, it’s difficult now,” laments Mr. Mobompte, who continues: “If the armed groups never touched my hives, they looted and destroyed my house twice.”
“I remember a period when Chadians, Cameroonians and Sudanese came to buy their honey here, but today consumption is low,” adds Francine Webouna, 42, a honey merchant in the Bossangoa market.
In February 2021, Bossangoa, a small prefecture of Ouham, was retaken from the rebels by the army and its Russian allies. Even if calm has returned, the few hundred CAPICO beekeepers cannot go into the bush to expand their operations. “They risk falling on rebels who are still prowling,” assures Mr. Mobompte.
-“Thugs and taxes”-
“Take the road to sell your honey, it’s also dangerous, and expensive, because you can come across thugs and the taxes at the various checkpoints are high”, he laments, still marked by the recent aggression. of beekeepers from his cooperative on their way to an agricultural fair.
Like others he trains, Mr. Mobompte, 64, cannot live on his honey. “There are no outlets elsewhere and, locally, people do not consume enough of it, I am currently storing 200 liters of honey while waiting to find a buyer”, he explains.
“A liter and a half sells here between 2,000 and 2,500 CFA francs (3 to 4 euros)”, explains the beekeeper. “In the Central African Republic, it’s not a luxury product,” he breathes.
Certain of the quality of their nectar, the beekeepers of the cooperative have the tenuous hope of developing the sector by processing the honey on site. “We could make food supplements, shoe polish, cosmetics and be recognized for this, but the lack of equipment, funds and knowledge do not facilitate this development”, laments Philippe, mechanically chasing the bees around him.
