Safeguard Bees and Beekeepers in Madagascar

Project Renitantely is now under way! The three-year project aims to build the capacity of local beekeepers and increase their access to markets, whilst also maintaining the bee populations that are critical for the unique flora and fauna of Madagascar.

During November the team travelled between the six target rural communities, or fokantany, in the Anosy region delivering the first of its quarterly beekeeper training workshops. The focus of this initial workshop was to introduce the concept of community apiaries (beehives) to three highly motivated beekeepers in each target fokantany. These community apiaries provide space for training which draws on a Farmer’s Field School (FFS) approach. In FFS a group of farmers are given the opportunity to trial different practices, develop new techniques and make informed decisions about which resources they should invest in. All labour and profits are shared to encourage collaboration.

Translate that into apiculture, and this collaborative approach holds significant potential for the beekeepers of Project Renitantely. Rather than enforcing ideas and practices that may prove to be culturally inappropriate or unsustainable, the beekeepers are given autonomy to develop their own methods suited to their local environment. A collaborative approach additionally has the benefit of strengthening disease prevention, enabling beekeepers to collectively check, treat and prevent pests and infestations in their hives. Project Renitantely will support regular checks and the distribution of vital treatments across rural, isolated areas.

Ensuring strong, healthy colonies and effective disease prevention is needed now more than ever with the recent arrival of the infamous varroa mite in southern Madagascar. The varroa mite has been a leading cause of bee colony collapse disorder across the globe. It is a tiny parasite that attaches itself to the back of the bee, sapping it of energy and rendering it unable to function. Varroa arrived in northern Madagascar in 2010 and reached the southeast Anosy region where SEED works in February 2016.

SEED has recently identified varroa in the fokontany supported by Project Renitantely and the surrounding areas. It is hoped that through the FFS collaborative approach to beekeeping, further training and future workshops, the beekeepers of Project Renitantely will be able to tackle this threat to their livelihood and the bees of Anosy can keep on buzzing. 

Links:

• Renitantely project page