Community beekeeping business
We believe in sustainability — for the programs and for the community. We have started a community beekeeping business to create jobs for our community, and whose profits will go into supporting MAMA Wellness Resource Centre and its programs.
Early this year we set up an apiary of 11 hives at Orus, Tiaty in Baringo County. In less than two months, some of the hives have already been colonized by bees. We are confident the rest of the hives will be colonized soon.
The community beekeeping business is aimed at providing the Orus community with a platform to learn about bee farming and an opportunity for economic empowerment. The Pokot community are nomadic pastoralists. However, due to perennial drought most of the animals have died. Beekeeping is an alternative economic activity for them to generate income.
We intend to expand the project by adding more hives and creating more jobs for our community. We will impart the knowledge we gain from the project to the community to ensure they adapt to the climate change effects.
Baringo County is one of the arid and semi-arid areas in Kenya with high potential for beekeeping. The agroecological conditions of the region provide the requisite necessities for a successful community beekeeping project.
There’s extremely high demand for hive products in Kenya, Africa and beyond. Kenya produces about 7300t of honey every year, which is 700t less than what our neighbors Tanzania produce annually, according to USAID.