TANZANIA / BEEKEEPING

In northern Tanzania, recurring drought in recent years has put pressure on communities who make their livelihoods by keeping cattle. A group of Maasai women have turned to producing honey from beehives in the forest to generate additional income. This has ensured their children’s future and is helping to regenerate the forest around their hives. 

In northern Tanzania, recurring drought in recent years has put pressure on communities who make their livelihoods by keeping cattle. A group of Maasai women have turned to producing honey from beehives in the forest to generate additional income. This has ensured their children’s future and is helping to regenerate the forest around their hives. 

In a clearing in northern Tanzania, Maria Shinini dons her beekeeping suit, in preparation for a night harvest. A group of her fellow Maasai beekeepers generate the smoke needed to calm the bees and safely gather the honey. They have 76 hives now on a communal plot on the outskirts of the Monduli district of the Arusha region. It’s taken a while to build this up.  

Maria began with five hives and equipment, as well as training from an umbrella network of smallholders, farmers and pastoralists, supported by the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF), a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the International Institute for Environment and Development and AgriCord.

Now Maria’s business is flourishing and her life has been transformed.

SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Maria Shinini, Beekeeper:

“I have benefited a lot from beekeeping. I bought five goats which are producing milk for us, I have also bought a bed and educated my children. This year my plan is to build a house.”

On the east of the Rift Valley, close to Mt Kilimanjaro, this part of Tanzania is green. It’s the wet season, but the rains this year have been less abundant than usual. Decades of recurring drought due to climate change have degraded the landscape and reduced the pasture available for livestock. 

Introducing bees is one initiative to regenerate the landscape. Beekeeping helps conserve forests because they are home to plants beekeepers must protect as a food supply for their bees.

At a training session, Maria and her group listen intently. They’ve learnt from the beginning that environmental conservation is a crucial element of the care and management of their bees. Their trainer, from an umbrella network supported by FFF, has taught them to take care of vegetation around their hives in the forest, so their bees can thrive.

SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Majaliwa Mwashuve, Trainer, MVIWAARUSHA:

 “It is of great importance that our environment is taken care of right from the water catchments, so our training goes hand in hand with these aspects of the environment, taking care of vegetation so that bees can get their food because there is no other source of food.”

Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) supports seven umbrella networks of smallholders, farmers and pastoralists called “Forest and Farm Producer Organizations” (FFPOs), across Tanzania, reaching over 300 000 households, to develop businesses and build resilience to climate change. Thanks to various activities, nearly 68 000 hectares of forest have been restored since 2020. 

The effect on the community has been significant. Maria and her fellow beekeepers have received training on how to be savvy businesspeople, producing, labelling and branding their products to maximize their value and combining forces with other beekeepers to access new markets.

One new product they’re considering – the result of new linkages in a neighboring district – is “garlic honey”, that is garlic paste containing honey, and sometimes mixed with various spices as well.

SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Majaliwa Mwashuve, Trainer, MVIWAARUSHA:

 “Previously their thought was that they harvest honey, then sit and wait for customers during a season. But things are different now because they can do business all through the year as a result of the value chain. They can harvest the honey, then engage in other honey product businesses across the year because of value addition.”

Though it’s mostly conducted by smallholders, in Tanzania, honey is big business. Across the country, there are more than 2 million women and men in beekeeping and related jobs, such as producers, processors, packers and salespeople. In one season, Maria processes up to 300 one-liter bottles of honey, which sell for 10 000 Tanzanian shillings ($4.5 USD) apiece. 

This has ensured her children’s future and granted her new status in her community. She ran for local government and won, and is now Chairperson of her regional council, with more than 16-thousand constituents.

SOUNDBITE  (Swahili) Maria Shinini, Beekeeper:

 “When people see me going to harvest honey, they are very surprised because in our Maasai community it’s only the men who do beekeeping as individuals. So, bee keeping has brought respect to us women, and thrust us to the forefront. People now know that even Maasai women can do big things.”

And indeed, Maria and her fellow beekeepers are playing an important role in caring for their families and protecting the environment in a challenging time. 

And that’s not all. Maria travels her district regularly urging other Maasai women to join beekeeping groups like hers so they can share her good fortune.

ENDS

More footage can be found here: http://tv.fao.org

More information on the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) can be found here: https://www.fao.org/forest-farm-facility/en/

STORY: TANZANIA / BEEKEEPING

TRT: 05’:59’’

SOURCE: FAO

RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN

LANGUAGE: SWAHILI / NATS

DATELINE: MONDULI DISTRICT, ARUSHA, TANZANIA, 25-26 April 2023 / RECENT

SHOTLIST:

MONDULI DISTRICT, ARUSHA REGION, TANZANIA, 25-26 April 2023

1.     Med shot, Maasai women beekeepers singing. 

2.     Various medium shots, Maasai beekeeper Maria Shinini dressing in her protective beekeeping suit before a night honey harvest

3.     Wide shot, a group of Maasai beekeepers sit around campfire

4.     Close up, campfire

5.     Close up, gloved hand stoking a smoker tool 

6.     Wide shot, hives owned by Maria Shinini and her fellow beekeepers on communal plot

7.     Wide shot, Maria Shinini and two beekeepers walking through forest to their hives

8.     Wide shot, hives 

9.     Wide shot, Maria Shinini and two beekeepers walking through forest to their hives

10.  Wide shot, beekeeper on branch of tree untying a hive

11.  Close up, beekeeper on branch of tree untying a hive

12.  Med shot, beekeeper unfastens cover of hive

13.  Close up, beekeeper handling frames/racks of honeycomb

14.  Wide shot, Maria and her children walking to her hut 

15.  SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Maria Shinini, Beekeeper: 

“I have benefited a lot from beekeeping. I bought five goats which are producing milk for us, I have also bought a bed and educated my children. This year my plan is to build a house.”

16.  Wide shot, forest 

17.  Close up, branch

18.  Wide shot, clouds over forest

KENYA/TANZANIA BORDER – FILE 2022

19.  Aerial footage, degraded landscape

MONDULI DISTRICT, ARUSHA REGION, TANZANIA - 25-26 April, 2023

20.  Med shot, hives in trees

21.  Aerial footage, forests

22.  Close up, plant 

23.  Wide shot, Maria Shinini and fellow beekeepers listening at training session

24.  Close up, Maasai beekeeper Maria Shinini listening

25.  Wide shot, MVIWAARUSHA trainer Majaliwa Mwashuve lecturing the group

26.  Close up, Maasai beekeeper listening

27.  Med shot from below, MVIWAARUSHA trainer Majaliwa Mwashuve gesturing as he teaches the group 

28.  Various med shots, Maasai beekeepers listening

29.  SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Majaliwa Mwashuve, Trainer, MVIWAARUSHA:

30.  “It is of great importance that our environment is taken care of right from the water catchments, so our training goes hand in hand with these aspects of the environment, taking care of vegetation so that bees can get their food because there is no other source of food.”

31.  Wide shot, Maria Shinini carrying container of honeycomb out of her hut  

32.  Wide shot, Maria carrying the container on the back of a motorcycle-taxi  

33.  Wide shot, Mto-wa-mbu town

34.  Wide shot, sign on market building, “Farmer’s Market”

35.  Med shot, Maria Shinini carrying container of honeycomb into processing centre inside farmer’s market building

36.  Close up, container of honeycomb

37.  Med shot, Maria Shinini placing bucket under filtering machine

38.  Close up, mixed honeycomb and honey

39.  Close up, honey pouring out of bucket

40.  Close up, Maria Shinini placing label onto bottle of honey

41.  Close up, row of bottles of honey

42.  Close up, hand holding a new product ‘garlic honey’ bottle

43.  Close up, garlic honey bottle

44.  Close up, garlic

45.  SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Majaliwa Mwashuve, Trainer, MVIWAARUSHA:

“Previously their thought was that they harvest honey, then sit and wait for customers during a season. But things are different now because they can do business all through the year as a result of the value chain. They can harvest the honey, then engage in other honey product businesses across the year because of value addition.”

46.  Close up, mashed honeycomb in bucket

47.  Close up, trainer Majaliwa Mwashuve’s hand writing figures in notebook

48.  Pull focus on close up, Maria Shinini’s face as she processes honey

49.  Close up, Maria’s hand mashing the honeycomb

50.  Close up, pouring honey from bucket

51.  Close up, Maria Shinini’s face

52.  Close up, honey pouring into bottle held by Maria

53.  Various med shots, Maria Shinini selling bottles of honey at a market stall

54.  Wide shot of group of men sitting down at a table and next to bikes outside the market stall

55.  Wide shot, Maasai women (who are part of Maria’s group) walking through the brush

56.  SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Maria Shinini, Beekeeper: 

“When people see me going to harvest honey, they are very surprised because in our Maasai community it’s only the men who do beekeeping as individuals. So, bee keeping has brought respect to us women, and thrust us to the forefront. People now know that even Maasai women can do big things.”

57.  Various shots of Maasai women beekeepers singing