Farmers taste sweet success with FQM'S beekeeping project, as the mining firm provides over 302 farmers with training and new state-of-the-art beehives

APART from being Zambia’s major pineapple producer and the nation’s mining hub, North-Western Province is poised to return to being the country’s leading honey-producing area, thanks to First Quantum Minerals’ beekeeping project.

The project is providing local beekeepers with training, hives and assistance with accessing markets for their honey.

Trident Foundation beekeepers set their hives.

Honey production is one of several livelihood interventions targeting communities neighbouring FQM’s Kalumbila and Kansanshi mines, helping promote the conservation of trees and discouraging the burning of Miombo woodland. The project is also aimed at improving livelihoods for farmers by providing an additional source of income for their households.

FQM’s Trident Foundation livelihoods supervisor Peter Ngandu says the mining firm has trained over 302 local farmers in new beekeeping techniques, providing them with state-of-the-art beehives, which with proper maintenance can last longer than conventional beehives.

“Through the Trident Foundation, we have been supporting initiatives such as this one, which aim to improve the skills and livelihoods of local farmers. And we have put the farmers in clusters, helping them to experience the new technology being used in beekeeping, such as the Kenyan beehives we are getting from the Copperbelt, which can last to about 20 to 30 years with good maintenance,” explained Mr Ngandu.

The mining firm has been actively working towards sustainable, transparent, and responsible economic and social development, by positively contributing to supply chain development and capacity building for local farmers within the host communities of its mining operations.

Trident Foundation beekeepers set their hives.

Trident Foundation beekeepers set their hives.

“We intend to increase the number of hives depending on the area and on the response from the farmers themselves, and we hope that this will lead to an increase in the yield of the honey as well as their income, which will in turn improve their livelihoods,” said Mr Ngandu.

He said that the beekeeping project was also aimed at improving diets for farmers and providing a source of income for rural households, adding that the sector had the potential to grow due to the abundant forests.

A partnership with social enterprise Nature’s Nectar provides training and hives management, and links the project to requirements for farmers to stop charcoal manufacture and bush burning.

“It is for this reason that we are also helping our farmers with market linkages. Because without a ready market, our livelihoods projects would be of less help. So, like in this case when you talk about honey or beekeeping, we have already connected our farmers to the buyers, which also gives us the confidence to order more hives to make sure that we increase the number of hives per household or per farmer so we meet the demand.

"Because if we only provide the hives ad there is no market for the honey, it defeats the whole purpose. So, we are in contact with other stakeholders that are able to buy the honey from our farmers without any hesitation. So, I am very happy to mention that this is one of the successes that we have seen in beekeeping for the last two years now,” said Mr Ngandu.

In 2015, beekeepers in North-Western Province made a plea to government to speed up the formation of a honey cluster in response to the upswing of beekeeping in the region. And over 2,000 apiculturists were stranded with 45 metric tonnes of honey due to lack of a readily available market for their honey. FQM beekeeping project aims to address that by facilitating a linkage between beekeepers and the market.

Trident Foundation beekeepers set their hives.

As of the end of January 2018 the project produced 3 tonnes of honey and generated the total of K20,706 in four communities. The Ntambu beekeeping committee has produced its own brand of honey which is being sold in Kalumbila. They have also assembled and distributed 1,500 Bee Sweet hives.

FQM, through the Trident Foundation, runs a local business development programme to help remove barriers to small and medium enterprise growth and link local businesses to economic opportunities in the Sentinel Mine, Kalumbila town and beyond, including international market linkages.

FQM has spent well over US$100 million on its sustainability and community development programmes. The overall objective of the mining firm’s socio-economic development initiatives is to create lasting self-reliance for its employees, their families and the immediate communities around its mining operations in Kalumbila and Solwezi Districts of North-Western Province. This is according to a media release issued by Langmead & Baker recently.