Money from honey: Youthful graduates hit the ground running after beekeeping course

Caption: Five of the 20 youth who received support under the Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Loitokitok Project graduated in December 2023. They are pictured here on their graduation day with one of their lecturers (third left) and WWF-Kenya Project Officer, Bryan Mbego (centre) and driver, George Rosha (4th right). The students are Timothy Sonkoi (far left), Nicholas Mutua (Second left), Sophia Renson (third right), Anthony Mungai (second right) and Solomon Mwanzo (far right). PHOTO | FAITH TANUI | WWF-KENYA

In 2022, WWF-Kenya provided 20 youth from Loitokitok in Amboseli with financial support to undertake specialized training in courses that enhance sustainable natural resource management and promote nature-based solutions.

This initiative also sought to mainstream the inclusion of youth and women in conservation while ensuring that local communities get economic benefits through the implementation of a Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Project.

With the project’s financial backing, 20 beneficiaries — youth and women — enrolled in certificate and diploma programs covering diverse fields like beekeeping, community wildlife conservation, forestry, agroforestry, sustainable agriculture, and animal production, all programmes that integrate nature-based principles.

Two years after enrollment, five of the 20 students who pursued beekeeping studies at the Baraka Agriculture College in Nakuru County graduated in December 2023.

“Growing up in a financially constrained household, I did not foresee many opportunities. But this project changed everything. The support they provided allowed me to enrol in the apiculture level 5 program. Without their guidance and financial aid, my life might have followed a completely different route. I might have been married young, with a family to care for by now,” said Sophie Renson, one of the five graduands.

Sophie Renson, one of the graduates, on her graduation day. PHOTO |FAITH TANUI| WWF-KENYA

Sophie plans to venture into beekeeping, starting with 20 beehives.

“I hope to make a living for myself and create job opportunities in my community using sustainable beekeeping practices learned through this program,” said Sophie.

As Sophie plans to hit the ground running, her former classmate and fellow beneficiary of the youth empowerment initiative, Nicholas Mutua, is already knee-deep in the beekeeping enterprise.

Nicholas’s thriving business in Kitale draws customers from as far as Busia and Turkana Counties. His nature-based enterprise is already contributing to the economy through job creation.

Nicholas Mutua poses for a photograph during an interview with WWF-Kenya on his graduation day. PHOTO | FAITH TANUI| WWF-KENYA

“I have already employed 10 men in Kitale through this enterprise. It is incredible how far-reaching it has become, extending services to regions like Busia and Turkana. My dedication to creating jobs echoes the values of the WWF-Kenya initiative — empowering others through opportunities I have been fortunate enough to receive,” said Nicholas.

While Sophie and Nicholas have their hands full, either planning or running beekeeping enterprises, the story is different for Solomon Mwanzo, another beneficiary of the WWF-Kenya youth empowerment initiative.

Solomon secured a job as an apiculture officer in Kajiado County and is based in Lake Magadi.

Solomon Mwanzo gives the vote of thanks during their graduation ceremony at Baraka Agriculture College in Nakuru County. PHOTO |FAITH TANUI| WWF-KENYA

“The shift in my life trajectory came with securing a job through the support of the IKI Loitokitok FLR Project. This position allows me to contribute to environmental sustainability in Lake Magadi, leveraging nature-based solutions in my work. My success reflects what others like me, supported by this project, can accomplish,” said Solomon.

The youth education empowerment initiative was devised as an important component of the FLR Loitokitok Project whose goal is to directly restore 5,000 hectares and have an indirect impact on another 20,000 hectares within the Loitokitok area in Kajiado County.

“We hope that the youth and women who have benefited from these nature-based courses can play a key role in the long-term sustainability of our restoration and conservation efforts, to apply the skills and knowledge that they have learned to help bring back productivity and biodiversity and create nature-based jobs to support alternative and economically viable livelihoods for themselves and their community,” said Dr John Kioko — Programme Coordinator, Amboseli-Chyulu Sublandscape, WWF-Kenya.

At WWF-Kenya, we promote nature-based solutions because these are efforts that help to protect, restore, and sustainably manage land ecosystems while simultaneously addressing societal challenges such as climate change and deriving ecosystem-based benefits for local communities.

By Faith Tanui, Communications Officer, WWF-Kenya.