Dignified employment through beekeeping in Ethiopia

It may seem ambitious to expect small insects – honey bees – to create jobs for a million people, but that is exactly what the Mass Youth Employment in Apiculture (MaYEA) project aims to do. In partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, this Ethiopian nationwide project is being implemented by a consortium of local organisations, to create 1 million jobs, triple Ethiopia’s honey production, and increase market competitiveness.

Following the training, Asfaw Tassew, 28, made his own top-bar hives. He learned how to harvest whole honey combs, which sells for high prices.

Bees for Development Ethiopia is one of the consortium members implementing this ambitious project in the north of the country – in 64 villages.

Since project outset, Bees for Development Ethiopia has reached 14,266 young women and men, giving them a range of skills to equip them to establish their own microenterprises – including, but not exclusively, beekeeping. Life skills such as communication, decision-making, financial literacy, leadership, and self-confidence-building are combined with technical beekeeping skills. As beekeeping is seasonal, the project is helping families develop diversified livelihood portfolios and poultry, horticulture and shoat-keeping are included (shoats = sheep and goats).

Asfaw Tassew, 28, acquired finance to establish his back yard apiary, in Amhara

Tigared, 26, has invested in shoat fattening with support from MaYEA

Access to finance

To address the need for financial services, the programme has facilitated both conventional and digital financing schemes tailored to beekeeping, offering reasonable interest rates and a repayment period of up to 1.3 years. The loan delivery scheme includes partnerships with:

• Abay Bank – for conventional loan access
• Cooperative Bank of Oromia and Buna International Bank – for digital loan services, leveraging mobile platforms to expand outreach and efficiency

As of June 4, 2025, a total of 302 youth participants had received loans ranging from £280 to £580, enabling them to kickstart the businesses outlined in approved business plans.

Digital loans are collateral-free and are provided through digital finance solution agencies and commercial banks, enabling members to access funds using their mobile phones.

Youth are demonstrating strong agency in entering the apiculture economy even before receiving financial support, showcasing the power of training and local ownership. The initiative not only advances income generation but also fosters social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and rural revitalization.

As implementation continues, the project aims to deepen market linkages, expand access to finance and land, and strengthen supplier networks creating a resilient, inclusive apiculture ecosystem in Ethiopia.

These loans serve as critical seed capital. By establishing profitable microenterprises, beekeepers are not only expected to repay the loans successfully, but also to scale their businesses and inspire peer learning within their communities.

Although the project is still young, already it is making a difference. Now 28 year-old Asferaw Tassew, is a self-employed farmer and beekeeper, “The most tangible benefits I have gained from the MaYEA program are the soft skills and technical trainings. This has built my self-confidence to invest in apiculture and do it better”.

Emeye, 20, secures her digital loan using her cellphone, to start a beekeeping enterprise.

BfDE’s model and approach has been adopted by the wider consortium

From the initial design phase of the programme, Bees for Development Ethiopia has played a pivotal role in shaping the intervention. One key contribution has been the widespread promotion of top-bar hives, which are cost-effective, easy to adopt, and can be constructed using locally available materials making them highly accessible for rural youth. This is in contrast to other beekeeping interventions which rely heavily on frame hive donations – which prove unsustainable.

We also championed the Community-Based Beekeeping Mentorship (CBBM) approach, which fosters peer-to-peer learning and mutual support between beginner and experienced beekeepers. To support this model, Bees for Development Ethiopia developed and shared a detailed implementation guideline that is now being used by consortium partners.

Ethiopian style basket hives can be made at low-cost and enable beekeepers to scale-up their beekeeping, with minimal capital

Asfaw Tassew, 28, takes a nature-based approach to beekeeping, hanging hives in trees to attract swarms

Results

In the current year a total of 98,362 kg of honey was harvested, worth a cumulative ETB 59,819,056.00 [£300,000]. This immense achievement marks a significant step forward in demonstrating the economic potential of beekeeping for youth employment. It reinforces the programme’s objective to create dignified and sustainable job opportunities by positioning apiculture as a profitable and scalable enterprise in rural and peri-urban areas.

Mekuriaw from Banja woreda stated, “Before joining the MaYEA program, I practiced beekeeping using only what I knew from my family. But everything changed after the training. I was introduced to top-bar hives and the importance of analyzing market expectations. That has completely shifted my thinking.”

The MaYEA Program is being implemented by ORDA Ethiopia, the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

#MastercardFoundation #ORDA Ethiopia #icipe #IIRR

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