Safeguard Bees and Beekeepers in Madagascar

Madagascar is globally renowned for its rich biodiversity. In spite of this, it remains one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries ranking 161/189 on human development index and 78% of its population live on less than US$ 1.90 per day. Beekeeping is one of the income generating activities for rural areas like Anosy region, and has the potential of contributing more than 50% of households’ income. Moreover, beekeeping is not culturally prohibited for women, thus making it a viable venture for anyone who is interested.

SEED has been working with local communities to support households to build new hives and to populate them with bees. By April 2023, project participants were provided with fruit trees and vegetable seedlings to plant near their apiaries. These were to supplement nectar available for bees, and help reduce their migration during the winter season (between May and August), when bees’ food is limited. In addition to that, the resulting vegetable produce was to provide an extra income to the project participants.

Out of the vegetable seeds that were distributed earlier in the year, petsai, courgette and tomatoes have already been harvested and altogether contributed to an estimated additional income of US $115.58. The lychee trees around the apiaries are already flowering and the bees that had migrated are coming back. This September, the honey will be ready for harvesting and sale.

There are plans to recruit beekeepers from current project communities and new communities in Phase II of this project, which is currently in development. Outreach efforts have started in order to gauge the interest of the new potential participants. Much continues to be achieved under this project because of the support we receive from generous donors and we are grateful.