Managing Director of Sudan's World Bee, Abdel Hameed Gafaar, 46, began his career in Sudan with NEF (Near East Foundation). Actually Hameed and NEF both began together. Hameed was NEF's first Sudanese employee, working alongside North Carolina beekeepers Lloyd Garcia and William Lord. Together they tackled the enormous challenge of domesticating and increasing production of Sudan's notoriously aggressive African bees, building the base on which an entire generation of Sudanese beekeepers would experiment and expand for over three decades.

Hameed's first assignment with NEF was hardship duty, working with women beekeepers in camps for Eritrean refugees located in Sudan's then prosperous eastern Gedaref State. Some women were accustomed to traditional beekeeping in their native Ethiopia; others were new. But none had ever experienced the ferocity of Sudan's native African bees; and none had ever tried to domesticate bees for commercial purposes.

Hameed and his new family lived alongside the refugees under extreme conditions, so difficult that his first child was a casualty to the hardships they endured. The refugees came and went, but Hameed remained with NEF, working in beekeeping and on a variety of agriculture and small scale business development projects.

NEF recognized its beekeeping and small-scale agricultural investments needed a more business-like approach in design and implementation. In 1988 NEF arranged for Hameed and other NEF candidates to attend Britain's Cranfield School of Management to study small enterprise and micro-finance development with their world famous promoter, Dr. Malcolm Harper. Hameed became a key player, introducing these new ideas to local farmers, student agriculturalists, and beekeepers.

FIRST BEEKEEPING NGO

As NEF's involvement in beekeeping continued to grow and expand into other regions of the country, emphasis shifted from the technical and business side of beekeeping to the formation of Sudan's first nongovernmental organization specializing in agriculture and related activities. Sudan Bee and Agriculture (SUBA) members were primarily educated professionals working in apiculture, interested academics, technicians, and beekeepers trained by NEF. Headquartered in Kosti in central Sudan, Abdel Hameed Gafaar became SUBA's first executive director.

In addition to beekeeping, SUBA activities included: credit for small scale agriculture and income-generating projects; revenue-generating projects with local community-based organizations, cooperatives, and schools; water and sanitation. SUBA became the center of NEF's work in beekeeping throughout Sudan, later including Darfur.

In 1995 after a brief interlude with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the White Nile area, Hameed accepted the position of Director General for Agriculture in Khartoum State, and moved back to the capital. These were difficult years for Sudan and a struggle ensued for SUBA activities and assets-beyond the control of its members and even NEF. Despite valiant efforts by its founders, nothing could be done and most unfortunately the organization broke up. For Hameed it was "perhaps the saddest moment in my life. We had come so far to lose everything in senseless ideological struggle with forces far beyond our reach."

Two years later Hameed was made Secretary General of Agriculture for Gadaref State, returning to where he began with NEF. He remained there for the next five years until his 2002 appointment to be Minister of Agriculture for Sudan's western South Kordofan State.

LOOKING BACK

Recently retired from government, Hameed reflected upon his early career with NEF and his experience in government service. Associations with NEF and nongovernmental organizations, taught him "how to work effectively, the importance of working as a team, and the critical importance of having a good team. With NEF, I had opportunities for learning by doing--from my successes and mistakes, and for increasing my knowledge and skills through relevant training programs in Sudan and abroad. It was in some ways a great adventure."

He continued: "In government I had an opportunity to think about the 'bigger picture' and how things have to be done to have an impact on a much larger scale. Unfortunately, I seldom had the opportunity to pick my own team. I had to deal with the harsh political realities and the corruption that is all too often a substitute for genuine planning and the rational use of resources. It was at times very frustrating. I also missed being in the field doing things myself and with other people," he ventured.

QUESTIONS NEEDING ANSWERS

With new freedoms and opportunities now opening for beekeeping and honey production in Sudan, it is optimum time for serious review. Among the questions: What took so long to accomplish "so little"? Was the emphasis on the African bee versus imported strains correct? What has happened to the people previously trained? What does the future hold for beekeeping in Sudan?

According to Hameed, "We definitely had most of it right. We may have overestimated the short-term potential for commercial production of honey using African bees. It's difficult and it takes time. It also takes technical support and local human resources to make it happen. NEF had to develop that base--and we did. All of those trained by NEF, both as beekeepers and as researchers, are still working in the field and are the backbone of the movement to revive this effort.

He continued: "Four NEF beekeeping "alumni," including myself, recently came together and petitioned the government to set up a committee to develop standards for bee products in Sudan. There is now a committee forming recommendations and four of the seven members are from our original group. We are also in the process of establishing a new private sector consulting firm to provide technical support to commercial beekeepers and to those wishing to establish apiaries. And we have a proposal before the government to introduce beekeeping to an entire state in the central region and see wonderful possibilities for expanding into the south. That was NEF's original target, which had to be revised due to the eruption of civil conflict between Sudan's north and south."

NEF BEEKEEPING ALUMNI

Warming up to his subject, "Faiza Hamad El Nile is doing great work in Blue Nile State," he remarked with evident pride. "Drs. Siham Kamal and Jacob Mogga are leaders in the field, promoting a scientific understanding of bees and more technical approach to beekeeping in the country. Siham is now with us in Sudan; Jacob is in Kenya. In short, almost everyone is still involved in one way or another in beekeeping.

"Dr. Mohamed Sayed Ali Saraj, formerly at Shambat University and associated with NEF's projects, now has two companies that produce medicines from bee products. These medicines, on which NEF focused significant attention in the later phases of its involvement in Sudan, are probably the most important development in Sudan's beekeeping future," Hameed stated.

MUCH REMAINS TO BE DONE

"We need to return to our efforts to crossbreed European and African bees in order to combat the heat and drought prone conditions of Sudan," Hameed continued on this subject so dear to his heart. "This will take time, but in the end we have to do it. As for producing beehives, suites, smokers, and other supplies...as in the past we unfortunately are still purchasing the majority of these supplies from Egypt. For real local production of these items, we will have to wait for economies of scale to develop that can support local producers. At least the knowledge is here.

"What would really be of help is to republish the NEF/IBRA Arabic/English dictionary for beekeepers. There's been nothing like it since and it's unfortunately been out of circulation for years," he emphasized, concluding his retrospective.

Was it all worth it? "I wouldn't have it any other way. It's been a great adventure with some really great people. I'm hoping that now that things are beginning to settle down in Sudan, maybe NEF will come back and together we can move this industry to a new level. There are new players, but I think, as the pioneers, we still have a lot to offer."

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