Self Help Africa believes that beekeeping could be a solution for many young people seeking to find a means of earning a livelihood in rural Kenya.
And the organisation’s Beekeeping extension project is working with young people in three secondary schools to promote and provide them with training in apiculture.
The project has forged links with a number of schools in the area, including St. Francis Lara Secondary School, Siria Secondary School and Kiptoim Secondary Schools, and in each case has worked with themto establish on-site apiaries for the students.
Self Help’s outreach staff have devised a curriculum on apiculture which they are presenting to students during visits to the three schools, and are giving students practical experience of beekeeping.
Three beehives were introduced to Kiptoim School, and a group of students at the 170 pupil secondary are working with the apiary on a daily basis.
School principal Paul Wanjohi says that the introduction of beekeeping is very welcome, as it gives the students a practical skill which could be extremely valuable to them in the future.
A number of the boys have also begun artisan training at Kiltoim, to learn how they can make their own beehives.
‘There is a good market out there for the sale of honey, and many of the students are already interested in getting their own hives’, he said. ‘As job opportunities in rural locations like this can be scarce, beekeeping could be a way for quite a number of our students to earn their income, or at least part of it, in the future’. |
Self Help Africa in Kenya |
Self Help Africa began working in Kenya in the late 1990's - initially in partnership with the Franciscan Brothers at Baraka Agricultural College, and in more recent years as a seperate, independent agency.
The organisation continues to work closely with Baraka College on a Beekeeping Extension Programme and other activities, while it has also established it's own area based development programmes in the Rift Valley Province. |
