From July 12 to 23 three Ethiopian beekeepers came to Italy for training experience with Italian colleagues. The visit was part of a program to support beekeeping in Ethiopia, which the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity has set up together with the associations Modena per gli Altri and Terra del Terzo Mondo.

With technical assistance from CONAPI (the Consortium of Italian Organic Beekeepers and Farmers), the Honeys of Ethiopia project aims to support and develop this sector—which so impressively reflects the biodiversity and wealth of local produce—by cataloging the best artisan honeys of the country. The initiative includes the two Slow Food honey presidia (Wenchi Volcano Honey and Wukro White Honey) and involves five communities. They are all committed to pursuing a traditional approach to beekeeping while using modern techniques. Lessons on the biological cycle and interaction among bee families helped to show the Ethiopian beekeepers how to improve quality of the honey and increase yields. In return these guardians of Ethiopian beekeeping traditions explained their ancient production methods to their Italian hosts.

The first destination during the visit was Tuscany. The group met Moreno Borghesi, a CONAPI technical specialist, in Montopoli Val d’Arno, a small village in the Pisa province, and they visited a number of apiaries. They were able to see the various stages of raising bees, and harvesting and packaging the honey. In addition to learning more about honey, the beepers also learnt about the processing of derivative products such as beeswax, for which there is an expanding market in Ethiopia, who are now the fourth largest producer in the world. After visiting the CONAPI plant, the largest cooperative of beekeepers in Italy, the group moved on to Treviso and Modena to meet representatives of the associations Terra del Terzo Mondo and Modena per gli Altri, and then traveled to Piedmont. From July 19 to 22 they visited two beekeepers belonging to the Presidium for High Mountain Honeys, a prominent apiculture company in the Novara area, and finally to the offices of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity in Bra.

Ethiopian honey also had the opportunity for public exposure when the Honeys for Ethiopia project received an award on the evening of July 27 during the “Notte dei Culatelli”. The event was organized by Massimo Spigaroli and family in the splendid setting of the Antica Corte Pallavicina in Polesine Parmense. A delegation from the Slow Food Foundation attended, including the President, Piero Sardo.

During the week before Terra Madre and the Salone del Gusto (October 21-25), a delegation of beekeepers from the communities involved in the project will attend the Terra Madre Tuscany event.

Nothing better describes the spirit of the initiative than the words of one of the delegates: “Before setting off for Italy I was worried about having to leave the fields during the sowing season. After the first two days of the visit I realized how important this experience was, as it enabled me to gain so much information. It was a unique opportunity and taught me how many different and fascinating ways there are to do the same work”.