The Buzz Around National Farmer’s Day, Oct. 12
Dick Rogers, Principal Scientist, Bayer Bee Care, Crop Science, Bayer U.S.
How often do you wake up and think, “What can I do to contribute to a more sustainable world today?”
Farmers — out of a love for their land and the necessity of preserving their livelihoods — find themselves quite often reflecting on the impact of their practices.
In honor of National Farmer’s Day, Oct. 12, I would like to update readers on the happenings at Sankofa Farms, where farmer Kamal Bell continues with his amazing commitment to sustaining his land, his community and more.
It all started with the bees…
I have been a beekeeper for more than 40 years and a professional entomologist for more than 35 years. It is through my job with Bayer’s Bee Care program that I first met Kamal, a former middle school teacher in Durham, North Carolina, who founded Sankofa Farms in 2016, as a way to serve his community.
Kamal’s mission through Sankofa Farms is two-fold. First, he wants to tackle the problem of “food deserts” (urban areas where it can be difficult to access high quality, fresh food at affordable prices) within his local community. Second, Kamal created Sankofa Farms Agricultural Academy, an intensive, STEM-based program which brings inner city youth to the farm to educate them about leadership, discipline and teamwork through agriculture.
In 2017, Sankofa Farms was looking to expand its operation to include honey bees, and Bayer donated the materials for 10 honey bee hives and two hive scales. In addition, I started working with Kamal and his Ag Academy students to help grow their knowledge of what makes a healthy bee hive.
Read more about Sankofa Farms:
Farming for Good, The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2021
Teenagers Gain Confidence Raising Bees and Growing Crops at North Carolina Farm, Southern Living
A Farm That Teaches Low-Income Kids About Food Deserts — and Self-Sufficiency, Forbes
Taking their apiary to the next level
As the world has been reeling from coronavirus, Kamal and his students have been working diligently with the bees. In the past year, Kamal and four of his five Ag Academy students have become certified beekeepers.
Responding to a slight decline in their bees, Kamal reached out to ask how they could ensure the health of their colonies. I introduced them to the Healthy Colony Checklist that I developed from my years of beekeeping observations.
Kamal and his students’ unwavering attention to the six conditions that make a healthy honey bee colony has proven fruitful. Just a few years after receiving their first hives, their operation now has expanded to 40 hives — and growing!
Bees keep us responsible
When most people think of agriculture, their minds go to crops in the ground or livestock such as cattle, chickens and pigs. Beekeeping, because of the pollination service that honey bees provide to fruits, vegetables and nuts, is an important component of agriculture. And just as crops are harvested, beekeepers can harvest honey.
Sankofa Farms has the equipment to extract honey from its hives but is not quite ready to jump into the honey business. For the moment, Kamal tells me that he is more interested in the educational component and what honey bees can teach his students and members of the community. In fact, Kamal already has written a book about beekeeping, responds to community calls for help dealing with bee swarms, and hosts regular bee education sessions with visitors staying at local Airbnbs.
Also, Kamal wants to better understand how to incorporate the bees as a healthy and sustainable part of the farm. Bees keep us responsible, he says. For example, Sankofa Farms will implement no-till and cover crops as part of its farming practices this year. Being aware of the bees ensures he is introducing practices that are beneficial to bees’ habitats — such as not disturbing the soil and planting more areas where bees can forage.
Sustaining a community
Kamal is working on his Ph.D. this year, along with running the farm and his Agricultural Academy. Two of his students who joined the Academy just after middle school are seniors this year and are following in Kamal’s footsteps and heading off to college. Considering the obstacles these students faced in their backgrounds, their success is an incredible tribute to the work Kamal is doing to sustain his community.
In the years they have been working together, Kamal and his students have toiled side-by-side to bring the land from its rough, red-clay beginnings to a productive enterprise, complete with greenhouse tunnels, a well and irrigation system, and a successful CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) business. This fall’s crops in the ground at Sankofa Farms include lettuce, fennel, collard greens and kale.
Importantly, Kamal has not forgotten his commitment to others in his community. His donations to organizations such as Durham’s Urban Ministries help to ensure a healthy supply of fresh produce reaches those most in need.
Thank a farmer; thank the bees
With Bayer’s support, I am proud to be able to continue to engage in projects with Sankofa Farms. Whether it’s his recently launched STEM and Sankofa video series, outreach to schools, or educational talks like TEDx, Kamal continues to astound me with his energy, drive, and enthusiasm — and all of that while hitting the Starbuck’s only about once a year as a special treat with his wife!
National Farmer’s Day is a time to think about the hard work that goes into feeding the world, and the commitment to sustaining our planet that is central to a farmer’s mission. Please join me in honoring farmers by thinking about what each of us can do to ensure a more sustainable world.
And as the saying goes, “Remember to thank a farmer three times a day.” (I have always thought we should thank the bees too — and Kamal certainly agrees!)
