Blindness no barrier to beekeeping
Story
“I thought to myself, how can someone who is visually impaired be a beekeeper?”
When Jennifer Oloya lost her sight over a decade ago, she was alone and had young children to raise. Her condition was difficult to come to terms with. She was desperately worried about how she would earn enough to feed and educate her children. A Bees for Development training course in beekeeping led her to a new and unexpected career.
In Uganda, people with disabilities have fewer opportunities to make a living, are marginalised and often left out by their communities. For most people in rural Uganda, agriculture is the most likely means of generating income and for people with physical disabilities, it’s often too labour intensive to be able to manage.
Beekeeping is significantly less intensive than growing crops but can still generate good income. Because of this, beekeeping can be an excellent way for people with disabilities to take back some control and become more independent through this accessible livelihood opportunity.
Jennifer was one of the original fifteen severely visually impaired beneficiaries involved in an initiative that Bees for Development, in partnership with The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation (TUNADO), took to offer opportunity to visually and hearing impaired people.
Jennifer is now a very successful beekeeper, so much so that she is helping others with visual impairments in Uganda to learn how to change their lives with beekeeping, too.
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People people with disabilities in extreme poverty helped to earn their income from honey
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Disability specific techniques designed, trialed and implemented with input from people with disabilities
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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.
