My Environment, My Children - Uganda

My Environment, My Children, also known as the Budongo Women Bee Enterprise, is a co-operative beekeeping enterprise producing honey and beeswax products. This activity is mobilizing women in the Masindi region to become beekeepers. The honey business is used as a vehicle for community development, including promotion of sustainable land-use and climate change adaptation.

Fast facts:

11 women created the Budongo Women Bee Enterprise in 2012;
40 women have directly benefited from the Budongo Women Bee Enterprise. They have received training in beekeeping and candle making;
Women are already earning income from mosquito repellent candles and selling their honey every season twice a year.

The problem

Many women work all day in the sugarcane fields of Kinyara, a large sugar manufacturer in Uganda, to earn an income. Sugarcane is not native to Uganda and is contributing to deforestation.

The solution

This activity focuses on honey production, processing and manufacture of beekeeping equipment. It trains women who pay to be members of the enterprise. They receive training and equipment and manage the hives and the production. The women sell their honey and beeswax back to the co-operative who then markets the produce. This activity and the women involved are raising the community's’ awareness of climate change, sustainable land use practices and energy-saving technologies. The enterprise is also focused on sustaining the overall local environment, and works with beekeepers on replanting land affected by deforestation.

Helping the planet

People are helping to sequester carbon by planting trees and crops in their communities. This activity is encouraging beekeepers to adopt sustainable practices in all aspects of their daily lives, like adopting clean energy cookstoves and planting crops native to the region.

Helping people

Beekeeping is empowering women with opportunities to learn how to mobilize others and plan and implement self-initiated projects in the community. Women at different levels are identified and trained in various skills and roles of leadership like marketing, record and financial management, managing group dynamics, chairing meetings, branding, etc. Women are also contributing to local malaria control through the production of mosquito repellant candles.

Scaling Up

This co-operative beekeeping practice can scale up by expanding the network of beekeepers in Uganda. Farmers are already practicing beekeeping on an individual basis. Simply by organizing and supporting these farmers with production and management advice, this activity can foster rapid growth and development.