Nuasan sponsor the expansion of Bees Abroad’s Levite Women Beekeepers’ project, Ghana for 2021 from its modest beginnings, in an area with no history of beekeeping. This is a very exciting time for this eager group of women who live in a small community with very limited livelihood opportunities in a hilly area north of the capital, Accra. Few of the women completed primary school, most are small-scale subsistence farmers, and all want better opportunities for their children. 

The women then harvested their first honey with no relevant training in April, as Ghana had a ban on workshops and travel due to Covid19. They then weathered the sale of the land their hives were sited on for pineapple farming, relocating them to a new site. Communication to the community is challenging, yet support and advice was always available during these challenging times from GRTN trainer Michael Sakyi who lives in Accra. As a result of Nuasan's support, the women will initially receive a further 67 hive kits (making half of the projected total) and some additional sets of protective clothing so they can set to work establishing further apiaries in the forest and head towards a valuable harvest of quality honey.

They will receive extension visits for support, beekeeping practicals and harvest and processing training from Michael in 2021.The Levite project participants have their sights firmly set on added value training in early 2022 to begin the production of a range of beauty products for sale in shops as, by that time, they will have viable harvests of honey, beeswax and propolis. Ghana is also blessed with locally produced cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut oil, moringa, lemongrass and other ingredients for a sustainable product range. This will be quite a journey for the Levite Beekeepers, but with technical support from one of the Ghanaian universities and their sponsors, we are quietly confident that, in partnership, we can bring about sustainable change for the women of the community and their dependents.

Trisha Marlow, Partnership Manager for Ghana, Bees Abroad *GRTN is Bees Abroad’s Ghana Regional Trainer Network

To learn more visit Bee's Abroad website.