Strengthening the resilience of women and youth in Somalia to economic shocks through beekeeping

Abstract

Somalia has a huge potential for the production of honey and other hive products. Though traditionally practiced for centuries, apiculture, like many other sectors in the country has suffered from low knowledge and skills and poor perceptions in regard to modern beekeeping technologies. There is a pervading lack of awareness of the high potential for value-addition in processing of hive products and the
real opportunity for income generation and investment that beekeeping provides. Capacity development and material support were therefore identified as  indispensable incentives for the sustainable production of honey and other hive products. Since 2013, FAO has intervened in apiculture in Somalia with the support of UKaid by forming rural beekeeping village groups and further supporting the groups with beekeeping equipment and tools as well as technical knowledge transfer. The goal of FAO interventions is to diversify households’ income and employment opportunities, mainly targeting women and youth. This paper discusses the challenges and impacts of FAO’s intervention in Somalia in strengthening the productive capacity of the beekeeping sub-sector. It is evident that technical support and provi¬sion of equipment to beekeepers provides significant alternative income and employment sources for rural households and improves their livelihoods. From the initial lessons learnt during a pilot phase, FAO has replicated beekeeping activities suc¬cessfully in several regions of Somalia by opening opportunity for more women and youth into beekeeping with over 750 households currently benefitting since 2013, with a potential to produce 22.5 Mt of honey annually. Further, the role of women and youth in building sustainable models of rural  development has been demonstrated: it is suggested that technical and institutional capacity be strengthened, including establishment of appropriate food safety  standards for hive products in the context of Somalia to meet customer needs in local and external markets. Gendered value-chain analysis is also required to delineate relative share of benefits, especially to women and youth.

Keywords: Bee-keeping, Women, Knowledge transfer, Honey