Ethiopian forest beekeeping is about more than just honey

It is estimated that at the start of the twentieth century 40% of Ethiopia was covered by forests, today that has dropped to just 14% and continues to decline.

One of the last remaining large, forested areas is the Sheka Biosphere Reserve, in the Southwest of the country. Home to much of Ethiopia’s biodiversity and many endemic species, this mountainous region is a critical resource to the nation as well as the people who live within it.

Beehives kept within the forest

In Ethiopia forests and beekeepers are bound together. The beekeepers in Anderacha in Southwest Ethiopia have adapted their beekeeping to their unique environment and beekeeping has become a major income source for the region’s population.

The beekeepers of these mountain forests have also taken on the role of the forest’s stewardship. By acknowledging and understanding the importance of the forest to their long-term income, beekeepers can see the value in protecting the forest from short-term, destructive activities.

Thick natural forest

Undergrowth that has been illegaly cleared for coffee growing

In Anderacha there are a number of community forest management initiatives specifically set up in order to protect the forest and ensure the sustainable use of forest resources.

Unique to the Sheka region is the Kobo tenure system. While recognised by the central government the Kobo system is not legally supported and yet has been practised to great effect in the area for over a century.

The Kobo system is a community-based approach to sustainably manage forest resources. Each beekeeper who wishes to place their hives in the natural forests is allocated a block section of the forest by the local elders of the area and they have exclusive rights to use the area for their beekeeping, as well as the responsibility to maintain the forest in that area.

The Kobo ‘owners’ have the right to inherit, rent, share, donate and divide their Kobo land but they cannot sell them.

Participatory Forest Management group members patrolling the forest

Forest being cleared for crop growing

Another important community-based forest management initiative is the Participatory Forest Management groups (PFM). A concept that has been developed from lessons around the world over the last 50 years, PFM recognises that many governments, while having legal control over their forests, do not have the resources to effectively manage them through government structures and local communities are better positioned and incentivised to manage these forests.

After successful trials in the mid-1990’s Ethiopia adopted PFM policies into law in 2004 and since 2012 the forests of the Sheka region have been under community ownership.

The PFM groups in each area have a specific, demarcated section of the forest that is their responsibility to maintain and patrol. For the beekeepers this will be an area that includes their Kobo block.

In Anderacha all forest product cooperatives require members to be a part of a forest management group and participate in maintaining the forest in order to sell their products.

Bees for Development is working with the Anderacha cooperatives to ensure that they have long-term access to high value markets and can generate enough income from their honey sales to make their forest protecting activities sustainable.

Maintaining the unique forest landscape has never been more important, as population increase and conflict elsewhere in the country is driving more people into the area looking for land to settle and clear for crop agriculture. The forest beekeepers stand as an important barrier to the forces that would further harm the remaining forest.

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A tree full of beehives in the forest