Projekt Beekeeping as a development approach
Status:
laufend
Ansprechpartner*in:
Heike Wiese, Jonathan Lyimo, Jackson Frank
Where does the honey come from?
Honey is of course produced by bees. But where do the beehives actually stand or hang?
We started working with wild honey bees a few years ago at the Himo Tree Nursery. We currently look after 35 boxes there. Through previous or ongoing projects on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, such as “New markets for honey”, “100 trees for Mabogini”, “All about Bees” and “Green Kilimanjaro”, where we have provided beehives, our radius of action has expanded considerably.
In addition to the bees in the tree nursery, we currently look after 14 other locations spread across Lowland, Midland and Highland in Moshi District and in Hai District with a total of 34 beehives.
We currently support 9 primary schools and 2 secondary schools as well as the Mapendo women's group in Shimbwe Juu, the Maendeleo Endelevu group in Njia Panda and Permaculture Foundation Tanzania in Shimbwe Chini. At all locations, we impart basic knowledge about beekeeping and provide significant support for the honey harvest. In the medium term, this work is to be taken over by the project participants.
We organize the sale of honey for all participants, mostly to tourists, with 75% of the proceeds being returned to the respective institution as financial support. We use the remaining 25% to cover our expenses for looking after and harvesting the beehives.
If the participants decide to use the honey for their own use, we will of course refrain from selling it.
We are happy to introduce you to some of the institutions here so that you can gain a better insight into our work.
The “Mapendo Women Group” is a women's group whose idea is to spread love in the community and support each other to improve community development. In this group, mainly widowed women living with HIV have come together to run a sustainable mushroom growing project to generate income for their livelihoods. Mapendo also supports needy schoolchildren in the surrounding schools. School uniforms, pens, exercise books and other items are financed. In summer 2022, Tanzanian Bees & Trees provided the women's group with 10 beehives and a beecage, as well as a workshop on beekeeping. The expected profits from honey sales will be used in accordance with Mapendo's ideology.
The “Maendeleo Endelevu” group consists of eight people with various disabilities, which make it considerably more difficult for them to earn a living. There is no state support for people with disabilities in Tanzania. They are dependent on family support and support groups. They support each other with small projects such as poultry farming or beekeeping in order to improve their financial situation. Tanzanian Bees & Trees has supported Maendeleo Endelevu with training in marketing and sales in the fall of 2022, as well as providing start-up funding for the construction of a maize storage facility.
Permaculture Foundation Tanzania
Founding member Victor Kinyaiya cultivates the land in the interests of nature conservation, sustainable development and securing the livelihoods of the local population. A particular focus is on the breeding and planting of tala gourds. The protein-rich seeds of the pumpkins can be eaten raw, roasted, pickled, used in soups or made into sweets. The oil-rich seeds are a traditional food component for breastfeeding mothers in East Africa. As a climbing plant, the tallow gourd needs old trees to grow on which it can climb. The cultivation of this plant therefore counteracts the deforestation of old trees. Tanzanian Bees & Trees supported this project with marketing and sales training in fall 2022 and provided five beehives.
SIA Primary und SIA Secondary School
As part of an environmental education project in September 2022, we taught these two adjacent public schools in Uru Shimbwe about bees and beekeeping in theory and practice. During this training week, 5 beehives were hung up together with the pupils. The expected proceeds from the sale of honey will be used to support the school kitchen.