Honey hands ocen sweet cash

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For the tenth year running, Vision Group, together with the Embassy of the Netherlands, KLM Airlines, dfcu Bank and Koudijs Animal Nutrition, is running the Best Farmers Competition.

The 2025 competition runs from April to November, with the awards in December. Every week, Vision Group platforms will publish profiles of the farmers. Winners will walk away with sh150m and a fully paid-for trip to the Netherlands.

In Lira city, William Ocen has transformed a small plot of land into a thriving beekeeping and honey production business.

From humble beginnings, Ocen’s business is inspiring others with his story of innovation, hard work and determination. His enterprise sits on a 20X27-metre piece of land in Angweta-Angwet ‘A’cell in Lira city, east division.

In his compound, the 40-year-old has two houses, with one dedicated to storing, producing and processing honey.

His journey

In 2018, Ocen was a production and marketing manager in a honey-processing company in Lira city. The company used to procure honey from farmers and process it.

As he received the raw product, he observed one challenge that farmers who supplied honey to the company faced.

They sold the raw product on credit, but the company would delay to pay the farmers. As a frontline worker, he encouraged farmers to patiently wait for their wedding. In addition, there was a high demand for honey, but the company could not satisfy this.

Clients would make orders, but their demand would not be met. These challenges sparked an idea to venture into honey processing.

Ocen’s first step was to map out potential markets and developed a quick business plan, even before he got capital.

In 2022, he took the leap and approached Kuc Wa En Megi Village, Saving and Loans Association at Angweta-Angwet and borrowed sh150,000. He purchased five litres of honey in Lira city.

He processed the product manually, sold the stock within two weeks and earned sh230,000.

Ocen’s next purchase was 10 litres of raw honey. He processed it and sold the product in supermarkets and in open markets.

He earned sh450,000 altogether. He was now convinced that this was a viable business and opted to scale it up.

This involved having a regular supply of a good amount of honey and equipment to quicken the production process.

Ocen says the Harvest Money expo is provides knowledge suitable for the growth of his business.

For the supply, Ocen contacted farmers he worked with when he was in formal employment. For professionalising the business, he required equipment. His associates advised him to borrow money from either a bank or a micro finance institution.

“I went to the bank, but there were many delays in processing the loan, so I opted for a moneylender,” he said.

Ocen got a loan of sh2m at an interest rate of 20% per month. He was to repay the loan after a month, which he did.

With that capital, he bought a honey refractometer, which is used to check the moisture content, sweetness and temperature of the product before it is processed. He resolved to expand the business, but without using loans. He opted to save whatever profit he made.

Setting up apiary

By 2023, Ocen says he had saved sh8m and used a portion of it to purchase a 45x40ft piece of land in Opuakere ‘B’cell, Boke ward, Lira city.

He opted to set up an apiary to boost his honey supply. He started with 15 beehives, that is, five of Kenya Top Bar at sh500,000 and 10 local beehives, which went for sh350,000.

Transporting the hives to the site cost sh50,000. He used the family labour to set up the hives. Today, Ocen has 35 beehives, all of which are colonised.

He harvests 100kg-200kg of honey per season, depending on the weather. The farmer says the harvest dropped to 80kg between August and September due to unfavourable weather.

Supply

Ocen also purchases raw honey from farmers in Lango, Acholi and Karamoja and part of Bunyoro sub-regions. The price depends on its grade.

He pays sh10,000 per kilogramme of grade I honey and sh8,000 for grade II. In a season, he buys 800kg-1,000kg, totalling sh10m. With a high supply, he also acquired a honey press machine and settling tank in 2023 at the cost of sh1.5m to ease production.

His wife, Harriet, is involved in the business. She cleans containers, keeps the processing room clean, crushes the honey combs, slashes the farm and helps in harvesting.

Value addition

The saying that the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step has been epitomised in Ocen’s life.

He started with processing five litres and today, at a given moment, he has 120 litres of honey for sale and 500kg of honeycombs waiting to be processed.

To boost his returns, Ocen also ventured into value addition. He processes five products, which include honey, propolis, beeswax, bee venom and honey wine.

He is also in the process of making candles, soap and shoe polish from beeswax. Ocen sells his products mostly in supermarkets in Lira city and Kampala at sh1,000-sh300,000 and propolis for sh7,000 to sh10,000, depending on the quantity. From his production unit, he bags at least sh3.6m every six months.

Other enterprises

From 2018 until he left the company, Ocen was in charge of training farmers on beekeeping, preparing beehives, harvesting and value addition.

After quitting that job, he continued training farmers at a cost of sh200,000 to sh2m, depending on the number of days for the training.

“Right now, our focus is more on women because they shoulder most of the responsibility at home. Instead of demanding money from their husbands all the time, they should have something,” he says.

Ocen also said by training many people, they are targeting to increase the number of farmers supplying honey to them.

Regarding impact, he has so far trained about 500 farmers across northern Uganda.

He adds that part of the knowledge he shares at the training is sourced at the annual Harvest Money expo.

“The expo is a learning event, creating contacts, getting markets and knowledge suitable for the growth of my business,” he said.

In addition to his ventures, Ocen also sells bee hives. They include the Kenya Top Bar (KTB) at sh100,000- 150,000, depending on the size. Local beehives go for sh35,000.

Of the two types of hives, he has noted a higher demand for Kenya Top Bar (KTB), which he attributes to its productivity.

A farmer harvests 20kg-25kg per harvest and in a year, one can gather 75kg. On the other hand, one harvests 7kg to10kg of honey per season with a local hive.

Expenses

The company’s regular expenses include procuring containers for packaging and labelling them as well as labour.

For containers, Ocen spends sh300,000 and sh40,000 for labels and labour bi-weekly.

Harriet says most of the work is done by the family members, but part-time workers are hired when the need arises.

Achievements

As part of his achievements, Ocen purchased land at sh6m, settling tanks at sh2m and setting up an apiary.

“I started with sh150,000. Out of that money, I bought land, set up my farm and I support my children’s education,” he says.

Community impact

According to Ocen, the community has embraced the availability of the project. One can easily access honey even for home consumption. Also, many have expressed interest in processing it.

Challenges

Inadequate capital, Lack of a honey processing unit, poor transport, limited market and the lack of Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) marks are some of the challenges Ocen faces.

Without a q-mark from UNBS, his products are rejected by some supermarkets in Soroti city. This limits his area of operation.

He requires sh50m to set up a standard processing unit, which is a prerequisite to getting a q-mark.

“A standard processing unit has to be tiled, have good ventilation and all employees are required to get a medical checkup monthly,” he explained.

Plans

Ocen says he has reserved the name of the company as he pursues registration and seeks partners to establish a large processing unit, train more youth on beekeeping, enhance value addition and access the UNBS q-mark.

Best practices

To maintain products, Ocen advises farmers against using fire during the harvesting and instead encourages the use of the bee smoker.

He also encourages the harvesters to use clean containers.

“I train them (farmers) how to ensure that there is quality and cleanness in whatever honey they harvest or bring to me,” he says.

Regarding security of the premises, Ocen ensures only authorised personnel are allowed in the honey production room.

He says he keeps contacts of farmers with good quality honey and the number of kilogrammes purchased. According to their records, Ocen says the best honey comes from Alebtong and Otuke districts, because of the shea-nut trees in the area.

He adds that they also keep records of the quality processed, sold out and places where the demand is high, to help in planning.