BeeTogether is one of the eight initiatives that is part of AFD’s (Academics For Development) mission to create a sustainable and durable environment. Each year AFD organises projects in the South for students of KU Leuven with different backgrounds with as goal socially responsible development, this by using the students’ theoretical and practical knowledge. We hope to have sustainable social im
pact in Tanzania by extensively preparing the project during the year and then travelling there for the ex*****on of the ideas. One of the AFD-projects is the follow-up enterprise of the Mzumbe project which was carried out last year, now baptized as the BeeTogether project. Mzumbe is situated in Morogoro, between Dodoma and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. In cooperation with Mzumbe University (TZ) and VLIR-UOS (BE), we will reach out to the rural community. The students will focus on beekeepers in the neighbourhood of Morogoro. Last year's Mzumbe-team focused on beekeeping techniques and tools. They provided five different beekeeping groups with improved beehives, smokers, beekeeping suits and -boots. Equally important, they passed on their knowledge on how to properly use these materials and manage bees. Now these improved tools and beekeeping techniques are implemented, it’s time to take the project to a next level. The BeeTogether-team will keep track of the progress made by the five beekeeping groups during the next months. First, we will explore opportunities for honey- and wax markets, as well as the possibilities of value-adding bee-products. Secondly we will look for an organizational structure which is most beneficial for the local farmers: plans are being developed to build two honey collection- and information points. In these central points, beekeepers can gather information about local markets, measure the quality of the honey in order to export and learn about new beekeeping techniques. To make handlings on the beehives easier and protect them against the harsh environments, apiaries (bee stables) will be build. Eventually the beekeeping groups should be fully operational, so the importance of recordkeeping will be introduced and more advanced beekeeping techniques will be learned to groups that made a lot of progress. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide the needed input (knowledge, materials and organizational structures) to make the beekeeping groups independent, sustainable and economically viable! The five students will travel to Tanzania for about 6 to 8 weeks to try to give the beekeepers a better future. The goal of this page is to inform you about the progress we are making during the coming year.
