Bees for Development Journal 124 September 2017
RukaJuu Beekeeping in Tanzania: Lessons learned in a pilot project Anne H Outwater, Head of Department of Community Health Nursing, Muhimbili University of Health & Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Stephen Msemo, Senior Beekeeping Officer, Ministry of Natural Resources & Tourism, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Photo © Anne Outwater unless stated otherwise
In Tanzania people appreciate honey as both a food and a medicine. There is a long history of beekeeping, and a baobab tree hung with several local-style log hives is not an uncommon sight. Honeys from stingless bees and honey bees are produced and sold1,2. Since relatively few pesticides are used in agriculture in Tanzania, the country is still free of genetically modified crops, endemic forests still stand, and the honey is usually of high quality. Very often, the origin of honey for sale can be traced to specific forests, and even to specific tree species. The market for Tanzanian honey is not yet satiated. During his term in office (2008–2015) Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda promoted honey production, especially by young people and women. Beekeeping comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources & Tourism; within the Ministry, policy issues are co-ordinated through the Division of Forestry & Beekeeping, and all operational aspects are implemented by the Tanzania Forest Services Agency, where there is a beekeeping section, which guides development of the industry.
Mr Liana, retired beekeeping officer and trainer for the RukaJuu Beekeeping Project, gives a thumbs-up to the youth of one of the camps and the hives they have just assembled from pre-cut pieces
Dar es Salaam is the largest city in Tanzania with a port on the Indian Ocean. Its population has grown from less than one million to more than four million in the last two decades. Much of this growth has resulted from the emigration of young men from rural areas. Research shows that many are poorly educated and unskilled, and thus have difficulty finding jobs2. In fact, less than 5% of the population is formally employed, and few of the employed are young men. These young men must have money for food and drinking water. In addition, in Tanzanian culture, men are expected to take care of their extended families; as a consequence of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, which took the lives of many parents, the majority of these young men are responsible for raising their younger siblings. Young men work as day labourers or in other transitory, low-skilled jobs. Others are self-employed, in tiny ephemeral businesses such as selling tomatoes on the side of the road. When these fail (as they invariably do) to get money for food and to meet their household responsibilities, the young men resort to stealing items that can be quickly resold such as purses, cell phones and meat animals.
inmates involved in beekeeping at Rye Hill Prison in England, was reported in Bees for Development Journal 1174 and has been the source of ideas and inspiration for a similar project in Tanzania. The two projects are related in that the target groups are similar: men who for various reasons are on or near the wrong side of the law. The English and Tanzanian projects also share the objective of general societal well-being. In the project in Tanzania the objectives are to keep young men from ending up as prison inmates or the fatal victims of mob violence, through engagement with beekeeping and the development of entrepreneurial skills. In England, when the Natural Beekeeping Trust was awaiting formal permission to bring hives to Rye Hill Prison, the Trust was asked by the governing committee, “Where is the evidence that caring for bee is of therapeutic value?” In Tanzania, the question is more specific: “Can beekeeping generate enough income to draw young men away from crime?” We began a pilot intervention study to explore this question in measurable ways. This study was funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Jack Josephson Fund. It was called RukaJuu Beekeeping, which translates to “JumpUp Beekeeping”; the “JumpUp” refers to the entrepreneurship and health components of the intervention.
The presence of large numbers of low-skilled young men with onerous family responsibilities has turned Dar es Salaam into one of the most theft-beleaguered cities in Africa3. Because police are few and poor communities must defend themselves, someone caught stealing will in many cases be killed by angry mobs. Addressing the lack of employment is crucial. As most of the unemployed are also uneducated and unskilled the question arises: what can the jobless young men of Dar es Salaam do?
In Dar es Salaam unemployed and underemployed young men gather in hundreds of self-organised groups or camps called vijiweni5. These camps have fixed meeting places, which we mapped in several areas of the city. For our intervention, we chose camps based on
One possible answer is beekeeping. A project to get 12
