Cameroon Course and Exam

Working with beekeepers in Cameroon, I was impressed by their thirst for high quality knowledge and their enormous motivation to learn. They were also very keen for this learning to be formalised with an exam and certificate. This has been the same in every developing country I have visited. People value education highly as a means to improve their standard of living and an accredited qualification will help to gain a job. In Cameroon, a suitable course of study with an exam to an international standard was a valued idea and has been pioneered in the Kom project.

Formal study allows beekeepers to tap into a fascinating body of beekeeping knowledge. Even the most practical of skills can be improved by a focused course of study. Better understanding leads to bigger crops and increased profitability.

International Standards

I was keen to develop an international standard syllabus so that beekeepers in Cameroon would know that the exam they took would be of an equivalent standard to that taken by UK beekeepers. For much of beekeeping world-wide the questions are the same but the answers may be very different. Many of the problems arising will be broadly common to beekeepers everywhere: swarming, bee losses, disease and predation, although the details will vary widely from place to place.

The detailed syllabuses developed by the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) are an invaluable study guide, so its practical and oral Basic Exam seemed a good place to start. In a development context this has the advantage that people do not need to be able to read and write. The BBKA Exam Board was very helpful but their exams are obviously based on UK beekeeping and needed to be adapted to tropical conditions.

The syllabus and exam developed in Cameroon tests local beekeeping knowledge and practise. Some topics are the same as in the UK with details designed to reflect local beekeeping techniques. Some areas are so entirely different that their study is irrelevant and an equivalent topic has to be substituted.

The style and standard of the exam is the same as that in the UK, but with appropriate content. Beekeepers, either in UK or Cameroon, passing this exam demonstrate a high standard of basic practical husbandry and essential beekeeping understanding. It is a standard that any beekeeper can be proud to have achieved. It is also the standard at which a person is expected to be able to produce good, saleable products from their beekeeping efforts. Already 14-beekeeping trainers in Cameroon have studied for, taken and passed this exam.

Local Trainers

For the system to be sustainable in developing countries, local trainers will have to be able to conduct the exam. In the UK, the examiners have to have reached the next level of competence and had training to ensure a consistent standard. The BBKA has agreed a dispensation allowing local technicians to have extra training to become examiners without having to take the written exams for the next stage.

This is a first step in the development of a consistent, international standard exam for practical beekeepers. This model can be adapted for beekeepers in any country wanting to develop the idea.

A final advantage of this approach is that beekeepers in developed countries are also able to take the exam. Already four British beekeepers have had a training course in Cameroon which would enable them to take the basic BBKA Cameroon standard exam. This would be valuable for people wishing to get involved in beekeeping in a developing country. It could also be valuable to organisations such as BESO, VSO or local NGOs to know they are sending beekeepers to developing countries with relevant experience.

We will continue to work towards these goals!