World Bee Day is celebrated annually on May 20th, and this year's theme is "Bee Engaged in Pollinator-Friendly Agricultural Production," which AU-IBAR is proud to support alongside other partners and apiculturists. At the Togo National World Bee Day Celebrations today, Togo apiculture practitioners received a message from AU-IBAR’s Acting Director Dr. Nick Nwankpa, who stressed the importance of Pollinator-Friendly Agricultural Production in a global context.
Dr. Nwankpa noted how healthy habitats, healthy food, healthy animals, and healthy people all result from agricultural practice that is kind to pollinators. More food, of higher quality, and more sustainable settings are the results. Honeybees and other pollinators can be indicators of an environment's overall health and sustainability.
The stakeholders were also reminded of the African Union's theme for 2023, "The Year of AfCFTA: Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area's Implementation." The beekeeping industry was encouraged to organise themselves in order to maximise the benefits of Africa's unified market.
AU-IBAR has been affiliated with the 35 Apiculture Platforms situated throughout Africa. These platforms are considered to be the highest level of multi-stakeholder platforms and were either established or reinforced under the auspices of the AU-IBAR - ICIPE Bee Health Project, which received joint funding from the European Union and African Union.
View the full World Bee Day 2023 Speech: http://repository.au-ibar.org/handle/123456789/1419
Pictures: Togo National World Bee Day Celebration, 2023
