They are tiny insects with a vicious sting yet they produce one of the most common and sweetest food products known to man. Honey. Yes, we are talking about bees, a valuable gift from nature that keeps on giving.
Ordinarily, bees are known for their important role as major pollinators accounting for every one in three spoonfuls of the food we eat globally, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.
As the world celebrated World Bee Day, it is not just their impact on the environment and human lives that took us to Nasaru-Olosho Conservancy in Amboseli in Kajiado County but another group of brave bee queens who’ve taken on an economic role that was predominantly done by men.
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Nasaru-Olosho is an expansive land tucked along the verdant rolling Chyulu hills in the southern Kenyan wildlife corridor next to the Amboseli National Park where pastoralist farmers have agreed to merge their individual ranches in a bid to establish a system that allows coexistence with wildlife within the protected area.
Through innovative approaches to management of the integrated working landscape, the people are quickly adopting new ways to ensure that they live in harmony with nature, living true to the meaning of Nasaru-Olosho, a name that means ‘rescuing a community.’
To help Nasaru-Olosho Conservancy achieve its vision of securing a healthy landscape that is mutually beneficial to the local people and wildlife, WWF-Kenya initiated several projects in the conservancy, including the provision of 1,200 beehives in Maasai Mara, Amboseli and Tsavo conservancies for women groups and training on bee husbandry.
Among the first beneficiaries of the beehives and beekeeping training were members of the Nalepo Women Self-Help Group.
“When we went to Kimana village for training on beehive husbandry, everyone in the community was taken by surprise to see us suited up in the sting proof bee suits and harvesting honey in daytime something that was unheard of in the community,” said Jane Mosoni, one of the first women at Nasaru Olosho to receive training on beekeeping through her Nalepo Women Self-Help Group.
Jane said: “Men and children were left speechless to see women harvesting honey in daytime, even wondering out loud whether we were Maasai people since the community has never witnessed such a thing before.”
Speaking to K24 Digital on Thursday, May 20, WWF-Kenya’s Southern Landscape Manager Dr Martin Mulama said the beekeeping project was initiated to empower women since they are usually left out in many economic initiatives for livelihood improvement.
“Our intervention at the Southern Kenya landscape is focused on a range of community-led livelihood projects beyond the provision of beekeeping equipment. At WWF-Kenya we look at the entire value chain from training, market linkages to value addition.
"We do our best to mainstream gender in the agenda. In this case we emphasize on women and youth because they are marginalized. We focused this particular activity on women. Different women groups have been trained not just on how to keep bees, and harvest honey, but on what they could get beyond the honey.” said Dr Mulama.
Now Jane is hopeful that their brave actions to venture into an otherwise considered “male” role will inspire the younger generation of girls to venture not only into beekeeping but also aspire to take up more roles that are predominantly male dominated.
“Everything is about learning and a little training. With time, the young girls will also learn beekeeping and other activities. It is all about learning,” said Jane.
With the knowledge she acquired in the Training of Trainers conducted by WWF-Kenya, Jane will train more women in the self-help group on beekeeping, an initiative that is expected to yield sweet fruits for the group and families in the conservancy.
“We would like the number of beehives increased, possibly by the government, to enable us reap an even bigger reward in this new practice,” said Leah Lasiti, another member of the Nalepo group.
The women groups venturing into the beekeeping enterprise has received warm support from the community.
“This is the first time women in our community, many of whom were housewives, are helping men put food on the table. This is new and it is helping families a step up the economic ladder,” said Nasaru-Olosho Conservancy Executive Director Jacob Nkananai.
The conservancy is located in three locations in Kajiado County and is home to about 15,000 people who have been sharing the land with wildlife in the busy Southern Kenya corridor.
For a long time, this area has been rife with human-wildlife conflict between landowners, livestock and key wildlife species especially lions, elephants and hyenas.
But the community is now looking forward to the future with hope that the creation of the conservancy will end dangerous encounters with wildlife and lead to improved livelihoods for the men, women and youth who live here.
When fully registered as a conservancy as opposed to being a community-based organization, Nasaru Olosho hopes to attract development partners to support it set up a sustainable model.
