Hawa Ibrahim lives in a small village of five households, on an island fringing Digya National Park, in the Eastern Region of Ghana. She lives with her husband and one of her six children.

For decades, Hawa and many others living in the area have been forced by poverty to exploit the forest resources, especially through honey and game hunting.

Many people are familiar with bees, and, living on the fringes of the Park, they clearly have access to rich natural resources, such as honey bees themselves, and forested space ideal for beekeeping.

Until 2019, there was no tradition of keeping bees using beehives here. This was when Bees for Development Ghana became involved. Hawa was one of several villagers in the area to begin training.

Crucially, this training began after community meetings to determine what was needed. When asked what was expected from a beekeeping project, the initial response was that “being given beehives” was expected – as they could not afford to buy them. The point was raised, though, that “even if we had hives – then what? We do not know how to use them. We need knowledge and skills”.

Bees for Development Ghana proposed teaching Hawa and her colleagues how to make simple, fixed-comb beehives, and then to manage the bees, and to harvest and sell honey and beeswax. Hawa was really engaged from the beginning. At the time, she said “I have six children. There are no secondary schools here in the village so four of my children are staying with relatives in town to go to school. I have to send money to pay for their upkeep. It is a constant struggle to keep them in school. I want to keep bees to get money to support them”.

The ambition of converting honey hunters to practicing beekeepers was christened with BfdG providing a field officer [Gideon] who visits the various communities for follow-ups and ‘on-the-job’ advice and also assists them when necessary on a regular basis.

Months after the workshop, we visited Hawa and her colleagues to monitor their progress since the training. When Hawa was asked why did she decide to start beekeeping, she said,

“What makes me so glad is that I had that idea in my mind but I had no knowledge on how to start it. By God’s grace, you brought the knowledge I needed … that motivated me. Also, the training and the knowledge you brought to us gave me the zeal to start what [beekeeping] has always been in my heart. I started immediately after the workshops on beekeeping and hive making. I learnt how to make hives from the locally available material like Borassus and palm fronds. I also learnt how to bait the hives, how to select an apiary, how to set up the hives in the apiary, and many other things”.

Asked her opinion on beekeeping compared to honey hunting, she says “comparing the two, I cannot go for honey hunting … I no longer have that kind of strength to go to the forest. As for the beekeeping, I am so happy that through the project, here I am keeping bees myself.”

Since 2020, Hawa has been working hard and harvesting and selling honey. as well. Currently, she has 37 colonies which have recently (November 2021) yielded her 5 jerry cans.

In December 2021, Hawa Ibrahim’s hard work paid off winning the Best Beekeeper in the Kwahu Afram Plains District at the 2021 National Farmers’ Day ceremony. There, she said

“I urge my fellow women to also start keeping bees to make money to support their families.”

People people with disabilities in extreme poverty helped to earn their income from honey

Disability specific techniques designed, trialed and implemented with input from people with disabilities

Beekeeping learning centres where other people with disabilities can come and learn about disability adapted beekeeping techniques

The Power of Bees. Bees offer a wonderful way to help people in extreme poverty. Bees do not need to be fed: they find their own food and water. Simple hives can be well made from locally available materials, and bees are freely available from nature. Beekeeping is even possible for people with no land of their own. It offers a feasible livelihood option, with good markets for honey and beeswax.

Bees for Development fights chronic poverty by targeting the most disadvantaged groups: single women, young people, families without land or other assets, and people with disabilities. We help people like Jennifer obtain bees, establish apiaries, and develop profitable beekeeping enterprises.