Women’s Empowerment and Beekeeping Enterprises

The NARI Women’s Beekeeping Group

Project theme

Beekeeping initiatives

Location

Bonde La Faru Sub-Village, Mbulumbulu, A, Tanzania

Dates

Donor

Elephant Crisis Fund

We began 2022 with fierce determination and fresh optimism to protect our planet’s biodiversity, and with that, birthed a new initiative which combines two powerhouses for conservation: women and bees.

With support from The Elephant Crisis Fund, and our Wild Survivors’ donors, we are supporting women who live and farm along the elephant corridor boundary to [CLOSING STATEMENT ABOUT IMPACT]

The project in numbers…

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The approach

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Stage 2

The group requested land through their local village government, for their apiary and the central beekeeping enterprise hub. With the appropriate sites selected the apiary was installed, set against the backdrop of the Ngorongoro Highlands Forest, housing ten Langstroth frame beehives, with space to expand.

Stage 1

The women have completed their first week’s Practical Beekeeping Training, embracing every session and advancing into active beehive inspections and honey harvesting along the beehive fence.

Stage 3

The Enterprise hub, equipped with a professional honey processing room, kitchen, store and break-out training/meeting area, will be built in a central location, supporting all community groups, with an inspirational view of the mountains and valley beyond the escarpment.

Women’s Empowerment and Beekeeping Enterprises FAQs

Beekeeping is fast becoming a popular complementary livelihood to coexistence farming in Upper Kitete, with Wild Survivors beekeeping workshops igniting a passion for bees village-wide. Farmers and their families are promoting conservation efforts to preserve forests for the bees, acknowledging the importance of this wild habitat range as an elephant buffer zone.
With 95% of our community collaborators vocalising the importance of protecting the wildlife corridor, establishing corridor conservation initiatives, such as beekeeping, that reduce competition for resources, and increase livelihood income and safety for people and wildlife, can create win-win results for achieving human-elephant coexistence.
As the family’s firewood and water collectors, women depend on access to natural resources from the surrounding environment, particularly the wildlife corridor. They must traverse wild lands, monitor wild animal movements and changes in weather patterns. They are also placed at greater risk of wildlife interactions, dehydration and lung disease (from cooking on open fires in small enclosed areas).
Beekeeping helps to bridge the gap in historic gender inequality and creates financial independence for women. The beekeeping enterprise will create a group fund for school fees, every day needs, and the purchase of gas with the aim of reducing their dependence on firewood collection and time spent in the corridor.
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