When a project ends, the work continues

Over the past 3 years much of our work in Ghana has been under the Beekeepers Restore Forests project in the Afram Plains.

This wide-ranging project, funded by The Darwin Initiative, has allowed us to tackle some of the region’s most pressing environmental and developmental needs.

The Afram Plains, on the western bank of Lake Volta, is a fantastic habitat for bees. As a forest-savannah, this area has a combination of landscapes from dense forest to open grasslands and a vast lake shoreline, the area has a little bit of everything. Unfortunately, that applies to the pressures on the region as well.

Hive making training session

The Digya National Park in the North of the Afram Plains is a protected forest area designed to conserve the wealth of fauna and flora within. This has been done by excluding all access to the area and the people whose livelihoods previously depended on the now protected land have had to moved down into the Afram Plains to seek alternatives. This increased pressure on the Afram Plains and has meant that more cropland is being created, and more charcoal burning is occurring. Charcoal burning is one of the major pressures on the landscape as it not only results in the loss of forests from large-scale cutting but the burning of the wood to produce charcoal often results in fires spreading throughout the area, causing further tree loss.

Charcoal on a ferry in Afram Plains, Ghana

Land recently burned by a wildfire

The Beekeepers Restore Forests project has helped to address these issues through beekeeping. Beekeeping was not a common practice in the region before this work began, with most honey being produced in the region coming from honey hunting. Through the training of beekeepers and the creation of our Honey and Beeswax Trade Centre in Donkorkrom we’ve been able to create an alternative livelihood and provide a reliable off taker to beekeepers, to ensure stable income. By offering an above market, stable purchase price we have encouraged many people to turn away from charcoal production that is destroying the landscape and become beekeepers who are helping to regenerate he Afram Plains and return the areas forests to their natural state.

The beekeepers we have trained in the region have not just undergone beekeeping training but have also been trained to prevent and manage fires in order to protect their apiaries and the wider areas around them.

In December of 2025 Bees for Development Ghana held a stakeholder workshop in Donkorkrom to assess the impact that the project has had on the wider region on both the direct and indirect beneficiaries. The workshop was attended by members of the community and organizations that have a stake in the area such as the Afram Plains Development Organisation, the local council of churches, Bee Champions, beekeepers and representatives of the media. Members of government institutions attended such as the Ghana National Fire Service, The Ghana wildlife and Forestry Commission, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and members of the District Assemblies. Traditional authorities were also well represented, led by Nana Akuamoah Tano II, Chief of Donkorkrom No. 1 who chaired the event.

The honey and Beeswax Trade Centre in Donkorkrom

Demonstrations at the stakeholder workshop

This Workshop was an opportunity for the Bees for Development Ghana to present their work to the wider community and receive feedback on how their work has affected those not directly involved as well as receive suggestions on further work or expansion areas. The event was a great success with beekeepers telling of their increased income and skills, Bees for Development Ghana staff presented the benefits that the forest protection and fire prevention are having on the area and how the money raised from the Honey and Beeswax Trade Centre will be used to fund further work in the area.

The demand to expand the work was expressed with many participants listing further beekeeping outreach and training and an expansion of the fire management training to more communities being of great importance.

The Beekeepers Restore Forests project is coming to an end in March 2026 but the work will continue with follow on projects already designed to help expand this work and reach the demand for support in the Afram Plains. Watch this space!

You can support our work in Ghana and around the world by making either a one off or a regular donation – just click the button below:

Beekeeping trainees ready for hive inspections