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TANZANIA / BEEKEEPING

In northern Tanzania, recurring drought in recent years has put pressure on communities who make their livelihoods by keeping cattle. A group of Maasai women have turned to producing honey from beehives in the forest to generate additional income. This has ensured their children’s future and is helping to regenerate the forest around their hives.

Country United Republic of Tanzania

Duration 5m58s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 05/12/2023 6:10 PM

File size 789.37 MB

Unique ID UF2I2Y

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist too long for file format - check external file

Script In northern Tanzania, recurring drought in recent years has put pressure on communities who make their livelihoods by keeping cattle. A group of Maasai women have turned to producing honey from beehives in the forest to generate additional income. This has ensured their children’s future and is helping to regenerate the forest around their hives.

In a clearing in northern Tanzania, Maria Shinini dons her beekeeping suit, in preparation for a night harvest. A group of her fellow Maasai beekeepers generate the smoke needed to calm the bees and safely gather the honey. They have 76 hives now on a communal plot on the outskirts of the Monduli district of the Arusha region. It’s taken a while to build this up.

Maria began with five hives and equipment, as well as training from an umbrella network of smallholders, farmers and pastoralists, supported by the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF), a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the International Institute for Environment and Development and AgriCord.

Now Maria’s business is flourishing and her life has been transformed.

SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Maria Shinini, Beekeeper:

“I have benefited a lot from beekeeping. I bought five goats which are producing milk for us, I have also bought a bed and educated my children. This year my plan is to build a house.”

On the east of the Rift Valley, close to Mt Kilimanjaro, this part of Tanzania is green. It’s the wet season, but the rains this year have been less abundant than usual. Decades of recurring drought due to climate change have degraded the landscape and reduced the pasture available for livestock.

Introducing bees is one initiative to regenerate the landscape. Beekeeping helps conserve forests because they are home to plants beekeepers must protect as a food supply for their bees.

At a training session, Maria and her group listen intently. They’ve learnt from the beginning that environmental conservation is a crucial element of the care and management of their bees. Their trainer, from an umbrella network supported by FFF, has taught them to take care of vegetation around their hives in the forest, so their bees can thrive.

SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Majaliwa Mwashuve, Trainer, MVIWAARUSHA:

“It is of great importance that our environment is taken care of right from the water catchments, so our training goes hand in hand with these aspects of the environment, taking care of vegetation so that bees can get their food because there is no other source of food.”

Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) supports seven umbrella networks of smallholders, farmers and pastoralists called “Forest and Farm Producer Organizations” (FFPOs), across Tanzania, reaching over 300 000 households, to develop businesses and build resilience to climate change. Thanks to various activities, nearly 68 000 hectares of forest have been restored since 2020.

The effect on the community has been significant. Maria and her fellow beekeepers have received training on how to be savvy businesspeople, producing, labelling and branding their products to maximize their value and combining forces with other beekeepers to access new markets.

One new product they’re considering – the result of new linkages in a neighboring district – is “garlic honey”, that is garlic paste containing honey, and sometimes mixed with various spices as well.

SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Majaliwa Mwashuve, Trainer, MVIWAARUSHA:

“Previously their thought was that they harvest honey, then sit and wait for customers during a season. But things are different now because they can do business all through the year as a result of the value chain. They can harvest the honey, then engage in other honey product businesses across the year because of value addition.”

Though it’s mostly conducted by smallholders, in Tanzania, honey is big business. Across the country, there are more than 2 million women and men in beekeeping and related jobs, such as producers, processors, packers and salespeople. In one season, Maria processes up to 300 one-liter bottles of honey, which sell for 10 000 Tanzanian shillings ($4.5 USD) apiece.

This has ensured her children’s future and granted her new status in her community. She ran for local government and won, and is now Chairperson of her regional council, with more than 16-thousand constituents.

SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Maria Shinini, Beekeeper:

“When people see me going to harvest honey, they are very surprised because in our Maasai community it’s only the men who do beekeeping as individuals. So, bee keeping has brought respect to us women, and thrust us to the forefront. People now know that even Maasai women can do big things.”

And indeed, Maria and her fellow beekeepers are playing an important role in caring for their families and protecting the environment in a challenging time.

And that’s not all. Maria travels her district regularly urging other Maasai women to join beekeeping groups like hers so they can share her good fortune.

ENDS

More footage can be found here: http://tv.fao.org

More information on the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) can be found here: https://www.fao.org/forest-farm-facility/en/

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