Bees for Development Journal 135 July 2020
NEWS Bees for Development – Africa
livestock. A further 13,500 tree seedlings have been added this spring. In May 530m of fencing was placed in an area that has been badly degraded. The community provide the labour, giving a real sense of ownership. In June, a further 13,500 tree seedlings were added.
ETHIOPIA Trees, bees and people Covid-19 has prevented some of Bees for Development Ethiopia’s planned training sessions, as travel in the Amhara region has been restricted. Added to this, internet connectivity through much of the country has been patchy at best, making even basic opportunities to meet and learn difficult.
The transformation in the sites is clear and encouraging, providing fruit, lush grasses for harvesting, and a rich habitat for bees to forage. In Ysala, the first site to be fenced in 2018/19, grass is growing enabling 40 people to practise cut and carry for their livestock, and forage trees are growing.
While Covid-19 has restricted larger group training, it has been possible to run sessions for small numbers, and particularly in one-to-one coaching. Training is provided by our Ethiopian team of skilled local beekeepers who pass on their knowledge and skills as mentors and advisors. We thank them for their efforts in May.
Bees for Development’s Trees Bees and People Project is supported by Rowse Honey.
Images © Bees for Development
Richard Harrington
The team is evaluating training carried out over the last 18 months, finding out how many people are continuing to benefit since the training, and assessing how many families have been supported. Work to stabilise degraded land close to Lake Tana in the Amhara region continues. 32,000 trees were planted last year, on two 30ha sites. The community is totally engaged in the transformation and have helped protect the sites that are fenced off from grazing (right) Grasses are cut and carried to feed livestock safely away from protected areas (below) Fencing is built to protect degraded areas
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