Bees for development

Bees for development, established in 1993, educate and inform beekeepers and raise awareness about the value of beekeeping for poverty alleviation.

They have established a Centre in Ethiopia to train chronically poor people to create resilient incomes from beekeeping.

Each household's average annual income in the area is £170. These disadvantaged people have little hope of creating the finance necessary to start a business. However, bees are free, feed themselves from flowers, and require little work. The bees pollinate crops and maintain biodiversity, and efficient hives are readily made from local materials.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Honey and beeswax are in strong demand, and beekeepers that are trained have increased their income by around 42%. This has enabled them to buy food and clothing for their families, and most are now expanding their beekeeping enterprises.

Visit the website to find out more about the organisation: http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/about-us and to donate: https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/beesfordevelopmenttrust