Agric. & Environment
Bee Apimondia Symposium to open markets for Uganda’s bee products
The four-day Bee Apimondia Symposium, which opened on August 25, 2026, at Hotel Africana, has brought together bee and apiary experts to discuss the future of the apiculture industry and develop solutions for protecting pollinators
A participant admires some of the bee products displayed at a mini exhibition on the sidelines of the symposium. (Courtesy)
By: Prossy Nandudu, Journalist @New Vision
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Uganda is seeking to use an international beekeeping symposium in Kampala to open new markets for its honey, beeswax, propolis and other bee products as experts discuss how to protect pollinators from climate change and agrochemicals.
The four-day Bee Apimondia Symposium, which opened on August 25, 2026, at Hotel Africana, has brought together bee and apiary experts to discuss the future of the apiculture industry and develop solutions for protecting pollinators.
Organised by the Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation (TUNADO), the symposium is also being used to showcase Uganda's bee products to the international market.
While briefing the media during the session at Hotel Africana, Dr Dickson Biryomumaisho, the executive director of TUNADO, explained that the symposium, which is running from August 25 to 28, will open doors for Ugandan bee products to the international market.
“Because everybody here is tasting our honey, appreciating our different bee products, the propolis, the beeswax, and they are finding them to be of high quality.
And thanks to our government, because every year they do what we call the National Residue Monitoring Plan, that allows Uganda to export products to Europe and beyond,” Biryomumaisho said.
He added that Uganda became the fourth African country in the region to host the Symposium on 104 years of Apimondia existence.
“Because everybody here is tasting our honey, appreciating our different bee products, the propolis, the beeswax, and they are finding them to be of high quality.
And thanks to our government, because every year they do what we call the National Residue Monitoring Plan, that allows Uganda to export products to Europe and beyond,” Biryomumaisho said.
He added that Uganda became the fourth African country in the region to host the Symposium on 104 years of Apimondia existence.
“And this time around, we have called the entire international community to come and see our products by themselves, see how they are produced, the producers behind them, and therefore, we expect to conquer the market beyond Africa for Uganda at the end of this interaction,” he explained further.
He added that the meeting is also discussing apitherapy, the medicines from bees, which he said are used more often than before.
“Because nowadays it's no longer about going to the hospital to get the medicine; it's about treating your body with the right food that you eat. And we are here to tell you that bee products are medicinal,” he said.
Officiating at the opening ceremony, the commissioner for entomology in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Lawrance Tusimemohangi, said the ministry is preparing a project aimed at saving bees.
Some of the issues that the project will address include showing farmers how to look after bees, the kind of equipment to use, how to protect bees from agrochemicals, as well as helping farmers with tips on how to access premium markets for different bee products.
He added that the meeting is also discussing apitherapy, the medicines from bees, which he said are used more often than before.
“Because nowadays it's no longer about going to the hospital to get the medicine; it's about treating your body with the right food that you eat. And we are here to tell you that bee products are medicinal,” he said.
Officiating at the opening ceremony, the commissioner for entomology in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Lawrance Tusimemohangi, said the ministry is preparing a project aimed at saving bees.
Some of the issues that the project will address include showing farmers how to look after bees, the kind of equipment to use, how to protect bees from agrochemicals, as well as helping farmers with tips on how to access premium markets for different bee products.