A high school student from California in the United States, Anirudh Srikrishna, has drawn international attention for his interest in improving beekeeping practices and creating opportunities for those in the honey production industry.

Anirudh initially became interested in the apiculture industry after he learned about beekeeping in his hometown of Fresno, California.

He took classes at a local beekeepers’ association, did research online, read books, and was eventually able to become an apprentice under a local beekeeper.

Through these experiences, he learned not only about how environmentally beneficial beekeeping was but also learned about its capacity for empowering people by creating an alternative livelihood.

In pursuit of this passion, Anirudh started to make changes not only in his local community but also internationally.

He started by working with his local beekeepers to distribute empty hive boxes around his city to give wild swarms suitable homes to move into, promoting a more sustainable ecosystem.

This helped prevent the bees from moving into places where they weren’t wanted–like house walls or roofs–where they would potentially be exterminated.

In December 2022, he held a workshop in a rural area in India, near his family’s roots. Here, he taught cashew farmers about the benefits of beekeeping with respect to crop yield and income.

He did this by detailing scientific practices to help them practice beekeeping more effectively. These initiatives made him realise the impact he could create in people’s lives.

After this, Anirudh sought to expand his initiatives to provide need-based solutions to farmers, traders, and other stakeholders associated with the apiculture industry around the world.

He wondered whether beekeeping could be used to supplement farmers’ income in other countries around the world. In particular, he was interested in Ghana’s rapidly growing honey industry and felt he could help access untapped potential.

In pursuit of this idea, he spoke to various experts within Ghana’s apiculture industry and learned that Ghanaian beekeepers often did not have the resources or training to extract honey efficiently, with many of them having to resort to manual methods of frame extraction.

As a result, many were forced to add other products to their honey to achieve higher quantities. However, this honey was of far lower quality, subsequently preventing beekeepers from accessing lucrative markets and selling for higher prices.

Anirudh’s determination to solve this widespread issue was acknowledged by the Ghana Chamber of Agribusiness who invited him to share his expertise on the topic.

Anirudh gracefully accepted the invite and flew to Techiman, the Bono East regional capital of Ghana where he passionately shared his multifaceted knowledge about honey-harvesting practices with more than 40 Ghanaian beekeepers, farmers, honey exporters, local business players, and other key government stakeholders.

Speaking at the event, Farmer Anthony Morrison, representing the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, applauded Anirudh for his visit.

He said he was glad that Anirudh, at such a young age, could create a significant global impact and applauded him for accepting the invite to share his knowledge with the farmers and local entrepreneurs within Ghana.

Mr. Morrison pointed out that honey from Ghana is one of the best on the world market but the country is yet to explore the huge potential that the honey industry can offer for socio-economic development.

Dr. Dennis Owusu Adjei, a representative of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture also noted that “over the years, farming in Ghana and other developing countries has been seen as an activity for the aged and poor but not for the youth”.

He indicated that Anirudh’s initiative is a wake-up call and motivation for the youth to have a change of mindset as far as Beekeeping is concerned.

“Beekeeping does not only benefit the individual but also contributes to the conservation of pollinators and the environment. In addition, this initiative is very critical for minimizing the threat of climate change on agriculture”. He added

Anirudh further visited apiaries in various locations across the Bono East region, where he spoke to many farmers to get a better understanding of their challenges with apiculture.

To continue these discussions further and in an effort to find long-term solutions, he created a platform where he and the farmers could communicate concerns they face and discuss practical solutions.

To ensure that this impact would be permanent, Anirudh informed the farmers about the website he created (fairhoneytrade.com) where Ghanaian beekeepers could partner with collaborating exporters and American beekeepers to help sell their honey abroad.

He also re-emphasised the need to upgrade current post-harvest handling practices so that the products exported out of Ghana meet international food safety standards.

Anirudh walked industry players through mechanical methods of processing honey and explained how they could facilitate these methods economically and practically.

Anirudh is committed to spreading his efforts to more countries and helping solve pressing issues in apiculture.

He passionately insists that expanding apicultural opportunities for people can help solve pressing issues like food shortages around the world while simultaneously creating alternate sources of income for people, especially those who struggle to make ends meet.

He believes that this project is a major step towards large-scale apiculture cooperation internationally, and he is dedicated to continuing efforts like this in the future to erode barriers in equipment and education for honey producers globally.