Meet the young rural people bringing back bees

Bees are essential for our existence, sustaining agriculture and biodiversity worldwide. Yet habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change threaten their very existence. 

In rural communities around the world, young people are determined to reverse this trend. 

From Tanzania to Tajikistan, they’re combining tradition with modern techniques to build sustainable livelihoods on an ancient delicacy: honey. In doing so, they are protecting the bees that create this precious nectar while pollinating our planet.

Hadzabe honey 

In the forests of northern Tanzania, there is a place where baobab trees are adorned with wooden boxes. This is the town of Singida – and the objects hanging from the branches are hives for bees cared for by the local Hadzabe people. 

Honey is a vital part of the Hadzabe’s diet, but climate change is making it more difficult for them to source it using traditional methods.  

That’s why these modern beehives supplied by an IFAD-supported project are a welcome addition. The Hadzabe can now keep the insects sustainably and efficiently, with higher honey yields and minimal stress on the bee colonies. 

The hives are suspended high in the trees to protect their golden haul from wild animals. Twice a year, their honey is harvested and then extracted in a new facility built by the project and run by local young people.  

The project supports beekeepers as they sell their delicious honey to lodges and tourism companies, giving them a reliable source of income. The community then decides together how to spend its earnings on both collective and personal projects. 

One young beekeeper, Shakwa, decided to use his new income to install solar panels and power his home in the forest. For him and his community, the beehives offer a way to build resilient livelihoods while preserving tradition – and protecting the natural environment they have lived in symbiotically for generations. 

“My life is spent in the wild, we are surrounded by the wild. I love living in this environment,” says Shakwa. 

Tajik treasure 

As a young girl in central Tajikistan, Marrufa Tavurova learned everything she knows about beekeeping from her father. Today, she is passing her knowledge on to her son, Davlater. 

But as climate change threatens pollinator populations, mother and son are adapting by enhancing their traditional knowledge with modern techniques. 

They’re part of an IFAD-supported beekeeping group in Safedmun Village that supplies modern hives and equipment to the community, boosting honey production and local markets at the same time. 

With the support of the Community-based Agricultural Support Project (CASP), they are increasing local participation in beekeeping – and making the practice more sustainable and efficient. 

Davlater and his mother collect honey twice a year. They sell it to their neighbours, at local markets and even to wholesalers as the number of hives they have grows. 

The golden rule Davlater has learned from his mother is respect for the bees – and for the environment they live in. 

“The first and most important thing is not to be afraid of the bees,” says Marrufa. “Secondly, you must provide good conditions for the bees. If you find a good place for them, with plenty of flowering plants, they will thrive.”

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For communities like Shakwa’s and Davlater's beekeeping is almost an art form. Passed down through centuries, traditional honey production is more than a source of food – it is a cherished tradition that bridges generations. 

But with modern equipment and knowledge from IFAD, young beekeepers will be able to ensure they can practice it well into the future. And by making honey production sustainable, they are boosting livelihoods while protecting the pollinators at the heart of global food security. 

Publication date: 20 May 2024