Strengthening earning power through beekeeping
By strengthening livelihoods, CPAR is helping African communities to become less vulnerable to poverty. As part of the Farmers First program, CPAR worked with two Farmer Field Schools from Tsumba and Khaladzombe village in Malawi to provide training on how beekeeping can help to build sustainable livelihoods as well as an alternative source of income.
Fifteen members from each of the Farmer Field schools underwent a five-day training session in beekeeping, harvesting, processing and marketing as well as beehive construction and installation.
By the end of the training session, each group had constructed 20 beehives. CPAR also provided start up equipment for constructing the hives and also provided harvesting suits, bee smokers and honey drip kits for the two groups.
The practical sessions will enable the group to construct more beehives and to expand their projects as they now have the necessary skills.
“We have been longing to venture into bee keeping but we lacked the technical expertise and material support to get started. But now that CPAR has helped us, we can put all of our efforts into seeing our project grow so that we can build income to support our families,” says Ruth Mwasi, a participant in the program.