Home Business Honey Sweet Success: How Beekeeping is Transforming Lives in Malawi and Zambia

Honey Sweet Success: How Beekeeping is Transforming Lives in Malawi and Zambia

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A quiet revolution is underway in the lush landscapes surrounding Kasungu National Park in Malawi and stretching to Lukusuzi National Park in Zambia. Local communities, traditionally reliant on subsistence farming and sometimes resorting to unsustainable practices like poaching or deforestation, are embracing beekeeping as a sustainable livelihood.

This shift is driven by the increasing viability of beekeeping as an income-generating enterprise, complementing climate-smart farming initiatives. “From this early experience, we see many potential benefits in beekeeping,” says Anthony Chatama, a local leader in Kasungu. “On top of them all, we see improved incomes for our families and our cooperatives taking a significant part in building community projects.”

While honey extraction has been a part of African tradition for centuries, it has largely remained a subsistence activity. However, with growing demand for honey both domestically and internationally, beekeeping is evolving into a lucrative enterprise.

“Even without a structured market and selling unprocessed honey, they can still make about US$5 per litre selling at village markets,” says Phillip Namagonya, Ifaw Community Engagement Officer. “With training on value addition, proper harvesting, and processing, and provision of real-time market linkages, beekeepers can make their enterprise more profitable.”

The market potential is significant. Data from Africa Eats reveals a substantial gap between honey demand and supply in Malawi. Furthermore, East Africa recently secured a major honey export deal with China, highlighting the burgeoning global demand for this natural product.

Recognizing the potential of beekeeping, Ifaw, in collaboration with partners like Community Markets for Conservation (Comaco), has been actively supporting local communities by providing beehives, training on beekeeping techniques, and facilitating market linkages.

Beyond economic benefits, beekeeping is a powerful conservation tool. By encouraging the preservation of forests to accommodate beehives, it promotes biodiversity and contributes to forest restoration.

Furthermore, beekeeping offers a unique solution to the escalating human-elephant conflict. Studies have shown that beehive fences can effectively deter elephants from entering crop fields, minimizing crop damage and promoting peaceful coexistence between humans and wildlife.

However, realizing the full potential of beekeeping requires sustained investment. Enhanced support in areas such as honey processing, packaging, and marketing is crucial to ensure that beekeepers can maximize their earnings and contribute significantly to the local economy.

As these communities embrace beekeeping, they are not only improving their livelihoods but also contributing to the conservation of their environment. This “sweet” endeavor has the potential to transform lives and landscapes, creating a more sustainable and prosperous future for both people and wildlife in the Malawi-Zambia Transfrontier Conservation Area.

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