Uganda Honey Trade Project 2010-14

Funded by Comic Relief, UK

Our current work in Uganda aims to create the opportunity for thousands of poor households to increase their incomes by hundreds of dollars per year and secure resilient and sustainable livelihoods through beekeeping businesses. Building on lessons learnt during the pilot, this Project recognises that high value market chains work at many levels:

Local
The Project supports an existing beekeeper-owned, honey-trading group called the Kamwenge Beekeepers Cooperative Society (KABECOS). It provides a fair and reliable route to market for beekeepers in Kamwenge.  This Project is strengthening the trading and institutional capacity of KABECOS, training members in increasing the value of their products and marketing, and building relationships along the supply chain.

National  
The Project is developing the capacity of the national industry association, TUNADO, to enable it to advocate on behalf of all beekeepers.  The result will be a proactive and established mouthpiece for the many thousands of small-scale beekeepers in Uganda.

Regional
Work with ApiTrade Africa is focusing particularly on the stubborn challenges of fairtrade and organic certification for Africa’s beekeepers: the Project is building expertise and experience within this emerging trade body.

For more information about the Project’s goals and activities, click here.

Introducing some of the people involved:

Click on their names to read about Christine Ogwang, a honey trader based in Kampala and Kahoza Wesisiras, a nine year old boy living in remote Western Uganda.

Our staff member Longino Masereka is based in Kamwenge full time to advise on this project, which is delivered through a partnership of four organisations:

ApiTrade Africa
Bees for Development Trust
Kamwenge Beekeepers Cooperative Society
The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation