Beekeeping yields benefits for people with disabilities: An update from Uganda
Blog by William Van Blyderveen
Posted: 10 February 2024
Beekeeping continues to yield benefits for people with disabilities in Adjumani and Gulu, Uganda. Since 2019, Bees for Development has partnered with The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation (TUNADO) to provide beekeeping training and market support to people with disabilities.
Beekeepers Toma Albino and Okwera Samuel, from a beekeeping group in Adjumani show their recent harvest. Toma is visually impaired and receives support from his group to monitor his honey bee colonies and harvest honey. Toma now has 6 honey bee colonies and harvested 8kg of honey last year, which he sold for UGX 56,000 (equivalent to US$15). Okwera has 11 honey bee colonies and harvested 25kg which he sold for UGX 80,000 (US$21). This is a important additional income, which comes with no expense except the time invested in making bee hives and monitoring honey bee colonies.
TUNADO’s apiary masters train beekeepers in all aspects of beekeeping, including making their own beehives from local materials.
In Gulu, Francis, who is visually impaired, received beekeeping training in 2019. Now after 5 years, his honey bee colonies provide an important income from honey and propolis. Francis harvests propolis from his own honey bee colonies and also buys propolis from other beekeepers. Francis sells between UGX 60,000 to UGX 90,000 (US$16 to 24) of propolis tincture each month. Honey and propolis provided the money to invest in additional livelihood activities, as he purchased two goats and improved his crops with the income.
Besides providing additional income for people with disabilities, beekeeping creates a social network. Often these people are isolated within communities, especially if they are deaf or visually impaired and communication is difficult. Bringing them together through beekeeping forms a social network and raises their status in the community. Hope, our TUNADO disability inclusion officer, mentioned that it is the small things that are most importan: “They take pride in themselves now. They are actively looking for others with disabilities in the community to engage with. Before they were isolated.“
The work would not be possible without TUNADO and their dedicated team. TUNADO has two apiary masters, Daniel and Douglas, on the ground at all times in Adjumani and Gulu. They provide the training directly to groups, and to individuals with disability if they cannot travel to the training site.
Daniel and Douglas must also link beekeepers to a reliable honey market so that people gain immediate benefits from their honey harvest.
TUNADO apiary masters have a wealth of beekeeping knowledge and are dedicated to helping beekeepers.
