BEEKEEPING FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD AND ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT OF REFUGEES & HOST COMMUNITY YOUTH AND YOUNG WOMEN AND MEN OF KYAKA II REFUGEE SETTLEMENT

LIVE IN GREEN LIVE IN WEALTH YOUTH INITIATIVE (LGLWYI) is implementing Beekeeping project aiming at empowering economically the local most vulnerable refugees and host communities in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement, Kyegegwa District, South Western Uganda with beekeeping skills and capacity as way of addressing settlement’s poverty and general health issues.

According to the UNDP in Uganda 2019, honey production potential is enormous in Uganda, estimated at 500,000 metric tons per year, but this potential has not yet been fully exploited. The Beekeepers Association estimates that only 800-1,200 metric tons of honey is produced per year due to lack of bee-stock. Uganda honey seems to be much appreciated and can as well be exported.

The government of Uganda recognizes bee keeping practice as an economic activity and a potential contribution to the poverty alleviation and through the Ministry of agriculture, live stocks and animal resources is trying to develop this practice and address the problems affecting this sector.

The Bee keeping is emerging in Uganda as a successful agricultural practice for local people in rural areas. The practice of bee keeping has intrinsic health benefits through the provision of food of great nutritional value which is lacking in the target community. Bee keeping requires few inputs and capitalizes on a ready supply of pollen.

In Kyaka II, there is almost unlimited source of pollen and bees aid greatly in the natural cross pollination of local crops. Health benefits for Refugees reliant on small agriculture to provide food are centered on the enriching qualities of honey in a diet which is usually dependent upon staple foods such as bananas, cassava, maize and beans.

The bee keeping project is contributing to the poverty alleviation among the beneficiaries, empower and contribute to the improvement of their health conditions as well as the social-economic status in the target community