For many years, as part of its Natural Resource Management Programme, Kaloko Trust has been training new beekeepers. The project aims to offer a sustainable source of income for poor rural farmers and to encourage them to value and preserve the local forest.
As the programme has evolved, various new components have been added. The first trainees received equipment to enable them to start their own apiaries, but now they are also trained to construct mud hives. These can be easily made at home using locally available mud and straw. Further, to help them sell their produce, the beekeepers are now put in touch with markets. Traders are encouraged to attend organised buying days where beekeepers can bring in their honey knowing that several potential buyers will be present.
More recently plant nurseries have been established, where selected species of local trees are propagated. Trainee beekeepers are taught how to raise and plant tree seedlings so as to ensure that in the future their bees will have a ready supply of pollen.
In recent years the Kaloko Beekeeping programme has trained nearly five hundred new beekeepers and made a significant difference to the lives of local farmers who have limited options for sustainable income generation.
The Edith M Ellis 1985 Charitable Trust is pleased to support the Kaloko Trust to enable them to work with poor farming families in rural Northern Zambia to train 25 farmers in beekeeping and supplying equipment to enable them to set up their own apiaries. Further information on their valuable work can be found at http://www.kalokotrust.org