Bees for Business: Rwenzori

Project details

In western Uganda, over 90% of smallholder farmers depend on coffee as their main source of income. Many farmers harvest their coffee before it is ripe for income to meet immediate needs, however this decreases coffee quality and value, reducing the income of the farmer and volume of saleable coffee received by the co-operative.

In partnership with Ugandan coffee co-operative, Bukonzo, this project is supporting 141 coffee farmers (30% female) to diversify into beekeeping as an additional source of income. Beekeeping generates regular income as honey is harvested twice a year, and is not reliant on rainfall or soil quality, making it a sustainable and climate-smart income diversification activity. In 2020, Bukonzo piloted this activity providing hives and market access to 12 farmers. However, due to limited resources and technical knowledge they were unable to expand this initiative.

Through this project, each farmer has received five modern beehives hives and training in beekeeping skills and business management delivered by Bunyangabu Bee Keepers, a locally based beekeeping co-operative. Training has also been delivered to Bukonzo Field Officers and project staff in beekeeping management, building the internal capacity of the cooperative ensuring they can provide support as required to the farmers, and expand the activity to new communities.

Project aims

• Beekeeping will increase the monthly income of the farmers by 60%, strengthening their financial resilience and reducing their need to harvest unripe coffee.
• By placing beehives among the coffee trees, the bees will act as pollinators, increasing coffee production by 20%, supporting the farmer and the sustainability of the co-operative.