In the Amhara region of Ethiopia, four women gather to load racks taken from a modern hive into a centrifuge which will separate the honey from the wax. The racks, complete with wax, will then be replaced in the hive.

This is a pleasant routine that Wubalem Shiferaw is now used to, as she is a bee keeper. Her grandparents were also bee keepers, harvesting honey from bees in the trees. Wubalem grew up and took after the same tradition, despite it being an unproductive method of producing honey – the hives normally yielded only 5 to 8 kilos a year. She didn’t know any better; until she became a member of the Mecha village Cooperative which brings together local women beekeepers allowing them to share insights and build a credit union. With Oxfam‘s support the move to modern hives has helped Wubalem produce greater yields of honey.

Wubalem‘s husband Tsega is a priest and a tailor. Harvesting honey supplements the income of small farmers in Amhara where there is a long tradition of honey production. However, without the resources to properly invest in production and the continued use of traditional, low-yielding hives, farmers have not been able to reap proper rewards for their labour.

“We have no land to farm so it has always been very hard for us to make money. For years we have been eating just one small meal a day. But the modern bee hives have changed that. Now we are able to afford clothing. The old-style tree hives did not assist the bees to work more and produce more yields, and as a result the yield we got per bee hive was too small. But using the modern technique gets us 10 to 15 kilos sometimes even 20 kilos! As the bee hives are within my compound I tend to them almost every day and night..I’ve gotten used to it and it has really helped us to provide the market with good quality honey.

“We’ve learnt how to harvest properly, dressed in our protective clothes. And with the extra money I got I’m planning to buy some more bee hives to multiply the amount of honey and wax I can sell. Hopefully that will improve my income in return.” The establishment of the honey cooperative has brought the market closer to us and it also helps us to save money. With our savings gradually fattening we are contemplating how best we should spend the money. We are thinking about other businesses that we could set up close to our hives.”

Oxfam in Ethiopia continues to support smallholder farmers in Amhara and other regions through the use of a value-chain, asset-based approach to food security and economic development.

Photo and copyright: Tom Pietrasik

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