By Charles Mpaka
A quiet revolution is unfolding in the lush landscapes around Kasungu National Park in Malawi and stretching to Lukusuzi National Park in Zambia, where local communities are turning to beekeeping as a sustainable livelihood, shifting away from practices like poaching or chopping trees for firewood in protected areas.
The increasing viability of beekeeping drives this shift as an income-generating enterprise alongside climate-smart farming initiatives.
Anthony Chatama, a local leader in Kasungu, speaks optimistically about beekeeping’s future.
“From this early experience, we see many potential benefits in beekeeping,” he says. “On top of them all, we see improved incomes for our families and our cooperatives taking a significant part in building community projects.”
Honey extraction is not necessarily new in these communities. It’s a centuries-old tradition in Africa, where hunters harvest honey from bee colonies found by chance or by tracking the bees to tree and ground cavities. They often do so at night, when the bees are inactive, usually without protective clothing and using fire and smoke to subdue them. The honey gathered is mainly for home consumption, although the surplus is sold unprocessed.
HONEY TRAP—A beehive in a community outside KasunguNational Park
How beekeeping benefits wildlife
The Kasungu and Lukusuzi areas are part of the Malawi–Zambia Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), where Ifaw works across two countries, including three national parks and the surrounding communities.
It’s a key landscape for our Room to Roam Initiative, as it is important to the seasonal dispersal of elephants, which sometimes come into conflict with the people who live there, mostly small-holder farmers dependent on their crops for income.
Room to Roam endeavours to build climate-resilient landscapes where people and animals can thrive together despite the challenges presented by climate change.
Working with partners, the project trains farmers in climate-smart agriculture techniques and growing drought-resistant crops, supporting biodiversity and preventing deforestation.
Income-generating opportunities
Until recently, honey production was never a domesticated, income-earning enterprise in these communities. It was just a way of benefitting from nature’s smooth provision.
In the communities around Kasungu, beyond the challenges they are facing with their nascent industry, people are beginning to believe that with better production processes and marketing, money can flow from honey production. That’s because, at the moment, even without a structured market and selling unprocessed honey, they can still make about US$5 per litre selling at village markets, or US$2.50 selling to occasional buyers.
Phillip Namagonya, Ifaw Community Engagement Officer, believes there’s st
