To enhance sustainable income generation in NW: Organisation trains, empowers locals on modern beekeeping.

The initiative, aimed at promoting sustainable income generation among smallholder farmers and enhance ecosystem restoration, was carried out by Support Humanity Cameroon, SUHUCAM.

According to the project lead, Sunday Geofrey, the project was aimed at building the capacities of smallholder farmers to increase income generation by training and providing modern beekeeping methods and materials to the local population.

“We want to make modern beekeeping a sustainable income-generating activity, promote land restoration and environmentally sustainable practices," he explained.

For over three months, the 35 locals gained ample knowledge to start and run a profitable bee farm. The training was facilitated by Restoration Task Force, RETAFO, a local nonprofit initiative group. 

They drilled the locals on step-by-step coupling of Kenyan top bar beehives, production of beehives using local materials like bamboo, good beekeeping practices and bee harvesting. 

The participants were then guided on strategies to choose a good site, ensure safe placing of beehives and above all, they were advised to ensure that the hives are placed closer to water sources to ensure availability of water. 

They were also recommended to consider the height of the hive pillars to ease honey harvesting and ensure regular cleaning around the hives.

Trainees receive equipment 

According to Sunday Geofrey, the locals were also equipped with the necessary equipment to start bee farms of their own. 

"Each group of ten were provided 10 beehives, three bee suits, three smokers, three boots, buckets, knives and other necessary equipment," he said.

At the close of the training, one of the participants, Ache Ernest, attested that the knowledge acquired is going to go a long way to improve on his bee farming techniques and enable him operate on a larger scale to make more income .

“I started bee farming when I dropped out of school. I had not received any training then, so I used local beehives made of bamboo. Most of those beehives got bad without bees ever entering inside. Also, I could only tap honey at night because I did not have the bee suit and even the smoker, so I used fire which caused many of the bees to die in the process. In some cases, the bees completely left the beehives,” Ache narrated

He went further to say that: “Every year, I could harvest about 20 litres of honey. I sold a litre at 3,000 FCFA. This was not enough to take care of my financial needs. I am very happy with this opportunity. I am going to engage more in modern beekeeping methods so that I can raise money and go back to school".

Another beneficiary, Alot Christopher, expressed gratitude to the funders of the project. 

"I am very happy and grateful for this donation. With the bee suits and beehives, I will now harvest honey at any time of the day. I will also be able to monitor to know when my honey is ready for harvesting," he said.

Meanwhile, the project lead, Sunday Geofrey, promised that SUHUCAM will continue providing support to the farmers after the training.

"We have to work together to develop their honey brand and make sure they sell in big markets. We will also create a bee cooperative in the future. This will come with many advantages and that will enable all of them to live a decent life and continue to take care of the environment,” he said.

The project was funded by the Global Landscapes Forum, GLF, with the aim to restore biodiversity and improve on the livelihood of small scale bee farmers. It was implemented by SUHUCAM in partnership with RETAFO.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3198 of Tuesday August 13, 2024