case studies undp: honey care africa, kenya

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: HONEY CARE AFRICA, Kenya

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions or people, nature, and resilient communities

KenyaHONEY CARE AFRICA

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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years

the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran

Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude Honey Care Arica, and in particular the guidance and inputs o Madison Ayer.

photo credits courtesy o Honey Care Arica. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Honey Care Arica, Kenya. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York, NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858


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3

HONEY CARE AFRICAKenya

PROJECT SUMMARYHoney Care Arica is a social enterprise that strives to raiseincomes or rural Kenyan armers through apiculture. Takingadvantage o a tradition o beekeeping as a supplementarysource o ood and cash income or Kenyan armers,the enterprise has sought to improve the productivityand viability o this sustainable livelihood activity as analternative to poaching, timber-elling, and charcoal burningor many o the countrys poorest rural communities.

Through the design, manuacture, and sale o Langstrothbee hives, the enterprise has intervened to boost the supply

capacities o armers; by agreeing to purchase the honeyproduced at a air rate, the initiative has strengtheneddemand or the raw material. Honey is then packaged andmarketed in urban areas under the brand names HoneyCare Arica and Beekeepers Delight, with the majority oprots being passed on to the 15,000 households takingpart in the initiative to date.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2002

FOUNDED: 2000

LOCATION: Seven o eight Kenyan provinces

BENEFICIARIES: 15,000 households

BIODIVERSITY: Pollination benefts

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 5

Biodiversity Impacts 6

Socioeconomic Impacts 6

Policy Impacts 6

Sustainability 7

Replication 7

Partners 8


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4

Honey Care Arica was established in 2000 as a social enterprise to

romote sustainable community-based beekeeping in eastern Arica.

he organization works with smallholder armers in rural Kenya by

roviding micronance, training, and community-based extension

ervices to stimulate the development o small-scale apiculture as a

means o combating persistent rural poverty. By providing arming

ouseholds with the means to sustainably produce honey or sale

hrough a collective enterprise, increasing the price received and

vercoming obstacles to market access, the initiative has sought to

iversiy livelihood options or Kenyas rural poor.

Bee-keeping: an underdeveloped rural industry

raditionally, beekeeping in Kenya predominated in arid and semi-

rid regions o the country, rather than in Kenyas more productive

ural areas. At root, this stemmed rom the livelihood decisions made

y people in these dierent areas based on environmental, cultural,nd social variables, which have subsequently been reinorced

y successive waves o state-led and international development

nterventions. Traditionally, those living in areas with high rainall,

ertile soils, and cooler climates ocused on the production o ood

nd cash crops, while the people in the more arid and inertile areas

ither opted or a nomadic pastoral liestyle, creating migratory

outes or cattle, or established a more sedentary liestyle based

n cultivating drought-resistant ood crops, supplemented by

udimentary beekeeping.

With the increased involvement o various Kenyan government

ministries, international development organizations, NGOs, and other

gricultural bodies since the 1960s, these trends were perpetuated,urther underlining this dichotomy. External interventions tended

o target the urther development o pre-existing livelihoods

trengthening soil-based agricultural techniques in areas with rich

oil and sucient rainall, or instance rather than introducing

eekeeping as an alternative livelihood option in these areas. As a

esult, beekeeping and honey production became associated with

emi-arid areas o Kenya such as the Ukambani corridor and Kibwezi,

ocated in semi-arid rontier areas east o Nairobi.

he areas with the highest potential or producing high quality

oney in Kenya have not been ully explored, meanwhile, let alone

roperly utilized. These systemic weaknesses have been urther

xacerbated by the lack o modern hive equipment and specialized

knowledge on honey production: apiculture throughout muc

rural Kenya is still based on the use o inecient log hives and sm

to harvest honeycomb. Various development agency interven

have ailed to stimulate more ecient honey production on a la

scale, meaning that research and development in this sector rem

largely insucient.

A win-win-win partnership model

Honey Care Arica was ounded by three Kenyan entrepren

to address this shortall by creating partnerships between

communities, development agencies, and the private sector. Far

are given a micro-loan to purchase Honey Cares high-qu

Langstroth bee hives, then are given intensive training in apicu

and are supported to develop autonomous honey production

enterprise provides a guaranteed market or the honey produc

air trade prices. Honey Care collects the honey on-site and payson the spot, then processes, packages, markets, and sells the h

through supermarket chains and other clients to urban consum

generating a small prot. Its Honey Care Arica and Beekee

Delight brands have become well-known in the East Arica reg

and have captured a signicant market share. To date, Honey

has benetted an estimated 75,000 individuals in impoveri

rural Kenyan communities. Positive biodiversity impacts have b

achieved through high levels o pollination and promoting

conservation o woodland areas or apiculture.

An internationally-recognized success story

The enterprise itsel has been very successul in gaining suprom private sector actors and development agencies, establish

tripartite model or development and conservation in partne

with rural smallholders. The model has been recognized w

Kenya, regionally, and internationally as an example o a succe

social enterprise, winning awards and unding rom the World

and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In 2

Honey Care was able to replicate its activities in Tanzania w

patient capital loan rom the International Finance Corpora

(IFC). The organizations vision has been adapted over time to

integrate urban actors at the base o the pyramid into the v

chain through the development o new markets and distribu

networks or honey in inormal settlements.

Background and Context

Climate change and its impact on smallholder agriculture conditions is critical for subsistenc

farming communities in East Africa literally a matter of life and death. These communiti

embrace beekeeping as one strategy for improving their resilience.

Madison Ayer, CEO, Honey Care Africa


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Key Activities and InnovationsHoney Cares our main activities comprise manuacturing high-

uality Langstroth beehives or distribution in rural arming

ommunities; providing intensive apiculture training and service

xtension to groups o subsistence armers; buying the honey

produced by armers at air market prices; and processing and

istributing the pure honey products. The key to this process

as been adding value to a pre-existing practice, boosting rural

ousehold incomes and encouraging environmentally sustainable

ctivities. While the idea o beekeeping was not entirely new to

many rural agricultural communities, high-quality beekeeping

quipment, proessional training, and access to markets were not

widespread in 2000. At critical constraint points in the value chain,

Honey Care provides logistical, operational, marketing, and nancial

management to ensure more ecient and equitable options results

or rural stakeholders.

stablishing the production o high-quality honey products throughn integrated, environmentally and economically sustainable

nterprise has built on the existing practice o beekeeping among

ural subsistence armers in Kenya. Typically this uses traditional

ives, made rom hollowed-out logs or clay pots, or low-technology

ives constructed rom locally-available materials. Oten the removal

o the honey in these cases results in many o the bees being killed,

nd can impregnate the honey with the smell o smoke. Honey Care

began producing Langstroth hives o the movable-rame variety

hat maximize the honey crop each season with minimal disruption

o the bee colony. These also require little time and attention on

weekly basis (5-10 minutes on average) meaning that they can

be maintained alongside a armers primary livelihood activity.

By guaranteeing a market or the honey produced, Honey

has incentivized this alternative income-producing activity,

substantial benets or the participants crop harvests.

Extension through partnerships

With a target population o Kenyas 25 million rural poor, partners

with development agencies have been central to Honey C

success. To date, these collaborations have included

beekeeping projects in Kitui and Taita Taveta Districts suppo

by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)

the Ministry o Livestock and Fisheries o the Government o Ke

beekeeping projects with the Aga Khan Foundation through

Coastal Rural Support Programme in Kwale District; a beekee

and biodiversity conservation project around the Kakamega F

area through Community Action or Rural Development (CAR

series o beekeeping and reorestation projects within and arothe Mt. Kenya National Park and Forest Reserve nanced by

UNDP-implemented Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small G

Programme; and an innovative beehive-leasing scheme in

Western, Nyanza and Rit Valley provinces with K-Rep Developm

Agency (KDA), Kenyas largest micronance institution, Arica N

and the IFC.

Honey Care also works with independent smallholder sel-

groups, women and youth groups, and other community-b

organizations to reach its target population. To date, over 15

heads o household have been engaged in beekeeping, represe

a total o approximately 75,000 beneciaries.


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6

ImpactsBIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

Encouraging beekeeping has numerous benets or biodiversity.

Honey Cares projects have been implemented with the expressim o reducing activities harmul to the natural environment, while

ncreasing pollination o plants or healthy ecosystems. The initiative

has been able to monitor and measure some o these impacts

hrough agricultural extension ocers.

Avoided deorestation

Honey Cares beekeeping enterprise is extended to rural amilies

with an overt objective o providing a supplemental income source

s an alternative to damaging activities such as unsustainable

orestry or charcoal production. Apiculture training emphasizes the

environmental advantages o sustainable beekeeping. In addition,

hrough their Bees or Trees program, the organization hasprovided beehives and equipment to armers in exchange or the

preservation o orest acreage within which the hives are housed.

Pollination benefts or agriculture and biodiversity

t is widely acknowledged that honey bees play a critical role in

pollination o ecosystems, and this can be measured in terms o the

value or agricultural cash crops. In 2005, a worldwide economic

valuation o the pollination service provided by insect pollinators

primarily bees) or the worlds main ood crops was estimated at

round USD 208 billion. This was 9.5% o the total value o the worlds

gricultural ood production. The production value o crops that

depend on insect pollination is our times the value o those that donot need insect pollinators (Gallai N. et al., 2009) . In Kenya, economic

valuation o pollination has shown that armers can receive a net

gain o up to 40% in revenue rom the sale o commodities grown

using bee pollination (Kasina et al., 2009) . This gain accrues through

mproved yields both in terms o quantity and quality. Crops such

s melon and butternut, or example, would be unproductive in the

bsence o honey bees.

Honey Care has attempted to quantiy the positive eects o

beekeeping on biodiversity by collecting observations rom Project

Ocer activity reports and armer surveys. To date, more than

0,000 hives have been colonized by endemic bee subspecies. The

use o species indigenous to Kenya is an important requirement

o Honey Cares work, eliminating the possibility o harmul eects

rom introducing an alien species into an ecosystem. 3,500 o the

otal beekeeping households are in semi-arid areas, where bees may

have a positive infuence, but not naturally colonize. By providing

n alternative livelihood or armers who might otherwise cut trees

o make charcoal, however, beekeeping has an indirect benet

or semi-arid acacia areas. 5,000 hives are within 3 km o a orest,

national park, or riparian zone, where it is estimated that they will

have a substantial positive impact through natural colonization. The

average observed increase in crop yields or Honey Care particip

is 15-30%, with some yields increasing by more than 100%.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTSHoney Care is currently working with its partners in seven o

Kenyas eight provinces, and has extended its model to Ma

Tanzania, and Southern Sudan in the past. Within Kenya

population reached has been estimated at 75,000 beneciaries,

whom are indigenous and live in rural areas. O the total benec

in 2010, 32,250 (43%) are women.

The average increase in annual household income rom particip

in Honey Cares projects is USD 250. This is driven by both h

production or resale in ormal and inormal markets and incre

crop yields through pollination. Farmer surveys have ound th

the revenues rom honey production, 33% is typically reinvestood and medicine, 25% in seeds and ertilizers, 18% in school

10% in improving housing, and 5% in launching micro-enterpr

POLICY IMPACTS

Honey Care has worked primarily at the community level, altho

many o its programs have been implemented in partnership

Kenyan government ministries. The group has also been recog

as a model or social enterprises by the Kenya Bureau o Stand

being awarded the Kenya Quality Award in the Small and Med

Enterprise Category in 2004.

The organization was a ounding member o the Kenya HCouncil in 2003. This body represents the major stakeholde

Kenyas beekeeping industry and was ormed as an umbrella o

to promote, coordinate and saeguard their activities and inte

Other main objectives include promoting growth and expan

in the Kenyan bee sector, urthering awareness o and educa

on Kenyan bee products and beekeeping, and ensuring qu

standards and ethical practices in the Kenyan bee sector. Their

also extend to lobbying the Government o Kenya or avou

policies and accompanying measures to support growth

expansion in the beekeeping sector, as well as lobbying internat

governments or avourable trade terms or Kenyan bee produc

Honey Care is currently building a new public-private allianc

promote beekeeping in Kenya on a broad scale. This initiati

being rolled out in strategic beekeeping locations throughou

country and involves private nancing or beekeeping equip

through the Asali Loan with partners such as Equity Bank,

provision o training and extension services in collaboration

the Ministry o Livestock and the National Beekeeping Station

structure o this alliance will acilitate more eective policy sup

or the sector nationwide.


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7

Sustainability and ReplicationSUSTAINABILITY

Ater seven years development o their value chain, Honey Care

ecame a protable enterprise. The structure o Honey Cares

alue chain is such that advantageous environmental and social

ctivities drive economically protable outcomes or all actors,

making it institutionally and nancially sustainable. The system is

ot dependant on any one actor or group or sustainability, with a

iverse range o stakeholders and partners. Each actor benets by

ull participation, without subsidy. Individual rural communities

ecognize the value o quality beekeeping products, proessional

apacity-building, and access to markets, which yield sustainable

irect and indirect income increases or participants.

he Honey Care enterprise earns prots by applying its expertise at

ritical value chain constraint points. Processed honey products yield

rots or each o the actors that participate in the nished productistribution networks. Development organizations that partner with

Honey Care in beekeeping projects realize their stated objectives o

ustainable development. A wider audience also benets indirectly

rom the environmental benets o beekeeping activities.

Honey Care acts as the lead rm in its value chain model and plays

critical role in its execution. Partner organizations are particularly

elpul in assisting nancially (in the orm o loans, rather than grants)

o individual armers in order to help them through their initial

eriod o beekeeping. Ater this period, the activity is sustainable or

armers, but most will require nancing during the interim.

Development organizations with established eld networks

contribute to sustainability by providing access to commun

leveraging these existing networks minimizes awareness-bui

and community-access costs that may otherwise prove prohibi

REPLICATION

The new alliances Honey Care is developing are designed to en

the scaling o beekeeping within Kenyas rural population. Sta

in new beekeeping areas requires signicant investment o reso

to build awareness o the opportunity, organize lead group

beekeepers, provide equipment, training and service extension

work out the logistics o honey collection and payment. Honey

and its public, parastatal, and development agency partners c

the initial development costs. Beekeeping is a very scalable act

once these initial capacities are in place., due to the widesp

availability o labor, small actual land requirement, and ree nainputs. Private partners then provide the support to scale comme

production in each area.

Honey Care has partnered on beekeeping projects throug

Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Southern Sudan, and its model is b

implemented in numerous projects across Kenya. Honey Care A

Tanzania, launched in 2005, has grown to become the largest s

honey producer and exporter in the country. While the Ke

and Tanzanian businesses initially operated separately, in o

to ocus on unique country requirements, they are now wo

together more closely in anticipation o uture consolidation


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omprehensive East Arican presence. With Kenya and Tanzania as

oundation, and a proven model or scalability, plans are being

eveloped to re-enter other East Arican countries on a permanent

asis, as opposed to the time-bound consultancy basis o previous

nterventions.

he greatest challenge to replication will remain the diculty o

uilding local and regional alliances to establish a oundation or

eekeeping in each area. Policy support or beekeeping varies widelyy country, and has a strong infuence on communities receptivity

o the activity. Local partners also vary in their capacity, resources

nd interest. Inrastructure has a large impact on the economics

beekeeping in individual regions, particularly when considering

ommercial scalability. The long-term commercial viability o

eekeeping as a community livelihood depends on both public and

evelopment partners establishing inrastructural oundation, and

rivate sector partners supporting commercialization.

PARTNERS

ublic Partners and Parastatals:

Ministry o Livestock (Kenya)

National Beekeeping Station (Kenya)

Ministry o Industrialization (Kenya)

Ministry o Forestry and Wildlie (Kenya)

Ministry o Forests and Beekeeping (Tanzania)

Development Agencies:

DANIDA / Government o Kenya

Swiss Contact & Swiss Development Corporation

Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC)/Ministry o Environmental

& Natural Resources

DFID, Dorcas Aid and Mama Mzungu Foundation

UNDP (GEF)EU, DFID, Soros Foundation & World Bank (SME)

U.S. Ambassadors Fund

British High Commission

German Embassy

Embassy o Finland

Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)

NGOs and CBOs:

Aga Khan Foundation

Community Action or Rural Development (CARD)

German Agro Action

World Vision

Action Arica Help International (AAHI)Wildlie Society or Protection o Animals (WSPA)

Biodiversity Conservation Programme (BCP)

Rotary Club o Stroud (UK) and Rotary Club o Hurlingham

Farm Arica

Arica Now

rivate Sector:

Kakuzi Ltd.

Business Alliance Against Chronic Hunger (BAACH)

Equity Bank

Bidco

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www.equatorinitiative.org

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change

onnecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

All rights reserved

FURTHER REFERENCE

Jiwa, F. 2003. Honey Care Aricas tripartite model: an innovative approach to sustainable beekeeping in Kenya. XXXVIII Congress APIM

DIA, Ljubljana, Slovenia. http://www.apimondia.com/apiacta/slovenia/en/jiwa.pd

Gallai N, Salles JM, Settele J, Vaissire BE, 2009. Economic valuation o the vulnerability o world agriculture conronted to pollinator dec

Ecological Economics (68), 810-821

Kasina M., J. Mburu, M. Kraemer and K. Holm-Mller. 2009. Economic beneft o crop pollination by bees: A case o Kakamega small-h

arming in western Kenya. Journal o Economic Entomology, 102 (2): 467-473
http://www.apimondia.com/apiacta/slovenia/en/jiwa.pdfhttp://www.apimondia.com/apiacta/slovenia/en/jiwa.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348162144.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348258226.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348164031.pdf

case studies undp: honey care africa, kenya

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