Beekeepers provided an income, nature restored and a stronger community. With the support of the Woord and Daad Foundation, bee keeping is creating sustainable change in Uganda. On a social level as well, for instance by providing opportunities for people with disabilities. Its motto: entrepreneurship, protection and connection through bees.
‘Beekeeping is a business.’ Akullo Immaculate succinctly expresses the work that Woord en Daad is undertaking in Uganda. As a merchant, Akullo visits villages to purchase honey and to train beekeepers. Only the highest quality will do. She resells the honey to hotels, restaurants and shops in the city. Working together through Busy Bees, local partners are building a professional honey sector. Thousands of beekeepers earn enough to make a living and to send their children to school. But the impact of beekeeping extends even further. It contributes to wildlife conservation. And it encourages inclusivity because people with disabilities are also good at keeping bees.
Daring to invest from the bottom up
‘For over five years, Dioraphte has been the oil in the machine of Busy Bees. Their long-term commitment has enabled us to build something more permanent. We operate in places big donors often avoid. Then you need donors just like Dioraphte, who are brave enough to invest in projects where you start at the very bottom. Meanwhile, we are expanding this approach even further, for instance towards the Batwa. They needed to leave their ancestral land because it was to be turned into a national park. Now, by learning beekeeping, they are given a new opportunity.’
Arnout de Visser, Project Manager at Woord en Daad
Woord en Daad started Busy Bees in 2015. Since then, there is a solid infrastructure in place. Dioraphte has been one of their partners for several years. It has facilitated, among other things, a fund out of which beekeepers can obtain a low-cost loan to invest in their business. That’s the way to turn a donation into real business capital. Under the motto ‘entrepreneurship, protection and connection’, Woord en Daad is now developing a sustainable economic, ecological and social strategy. In this way, vulnerable groups – young people, persons from the Batwa community and people with a disability – are able to earn a living in tandem with the preservation of wildlife.
Respect from the community
A crucial aspect of the Busy Bees’ approach is social impact. It offers people with disabilities opportunities that were not previously available to them. In many cases, for instance, they were unable to get an education. Today, there is, among other things, a vocational school where deaf people learn to make beehives. Another project partner of Busy Bees provides training courses to teach blind and deaf people about starting a beekeeping business. Jennifer Oloya Abalo, who is blind, now makes a living of her own, both from honey and from beekeeper training. Honey changed her life, she says. For her, money is not the main driver. The most important thing: respect from the community.