Youth in Kenya join honey ventures to beat job losses

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has eaten jobs all over the world, educated youth in the East African country of Kenya are turning to beekeeping, preserving an economic activity that was a mainstay of their forefathers.

Like Peter Makau, 28, many young men tired of job hunting started to try their hand in apiculture in 2019 by adopting modern beekeeping methods, boosting production, and making ventures profitable.

Many startups in Kitui county, some 133 kilometers (83 miles) from the capital Nairobi, have joined hands with the top five beekeeping cooperatives in their area, which have 10,000 members boasting some 200,000 hives to get access to markets across the world.

Officials say that the honey produced in the region has been ranked as among the world’s top five sweetest honeys.

“I just wanted to venture into something that could pay my rent, something small, be it work or my own business,” said Makau.

“I joined a program by the Kitui county government on beekeeping, and that’s how I started my business.”

Managing 17 hives on a small piece of land, the young man said the business has the potential to grow further if he had land ownership.

-Queens and middlemen

Makau also had a tip for those who want to invest in apiculture to rear queen bees, who can lay up to 2,000 eggs a day.

“They should identify their queens as early as possible at the larval stage. Queens are very important in this business. Many small businesses close because they don’t consider this,” he said.

Makau said that bees tend to abandon the hive if the queen is not actively laying eggs or if she is sick, aged, or injured.

Officials from the Kitui Agricultural Center are urging people to join cooperatives to cut out the middlemen when selling their honey, which they end up selling at lower prices.

“All farmers are welcome to visit us at the agricultural training center here in Kitui because we will be producing bees in large numbers with fresh colonies,” said Temi Mutia from the center.

“We will provide them with beehives, bee suits, and the colony to start a productive beehive.”

The honey business by these youth has created employment and spawned multiple enterprises by enabling farmers to grow sunflowers, fodder grass, and green grams, according to officials.