20 prison officers undergo training in beekeeping

Twenty prison officers including eight females have undergone a five-day training in beekeeping at Nsawam Medium Prisons in the Eastern Region.

The training which brought together participants from Eastern and Accra regions was to build the capacity of the officers in Apiculture.

The Deputy Director-General of Prisons in charge of Finance and Administration, Mrs Josephine Fredua Agyemang in her remarks at the opening ceremony on Tuesday said the service has been making efforts to explore new agricultural ventures to enhance its revenue.

She said the recent interest in beekeeping was due to the high demand for bee products for both the domestic and international markets.

The Deputy Director-General said a total of GH¢34,805.00 was spent on the project which involved the procurement of equipment and materials, establishment of 100 beehives and training of officers.

The Director-General urged the participants to impact the knowledge to help in successful implementation of the project.

Mrs Agyemang urged corporate organisations, government institutions and stakeholders in the agricultural sector to assist the service to execute its mandate.

The Director in charge of Agriculture, Director of Prisons (DOP) Hanson Adu Awuku, said the workshop would help promote apiculture.

 “Prisons Service can take complete advantage of the associated benefits.

Aside building the capacity of both serving and exiting officers, engaging in apiculture can rake in revenue for the service from product sales, especially unadulterated honey,” he added

DOP Awuku said other products expected from the project included beewax which is used in making lip balm, lip gloss, hand creams, moisturisers, and in cosmetics such as eye shadow, blush, eye liner and hair pomades.

“Propolis, another important derivative from apiculture industry has healing properties including anti microbial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor qualities,” he said.

DOP Awuku said bees are known to be efficient pollinators as such they are required to maintain a healthy ecosystem and help secure food crops for future generations.

He said the project would be replicated at other prisons, adding that the Agriculture Unit would be proactive in adopting measures to package and market products from the industry.

A principal manager at the Forestry Commission, Mr Abraham Allotey said bee production business can help address the unemployment problem in the country.

Mr Allotey who was the resource person said the participants would be trained in construction of bee hives and the management of bee farms.

As part of the occasion beehives and other materials were donated by the prison administration to support the projects.

FROM ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI, NSAWAM