III. The beekeeping, honey and wax refining group

As already mentioned, after the first meetings held in late 1980 with the leaders of the traditional women's self-help groups, the mwethias, a group of 60 women was trained in Kibwezi in April 1981, in beekeeping. They took up this traditionally male occupation with much enthusiasm and proved extremely efficient, capable and willing to learn new skills. Therefore, also in April 1981, an application was made by CHEK to the Commissioner of Lands for a 1.2-ha plot in Kibwezi Town on which to build a honey and wax refinery.

At a meeting held on 16 May 1981, at which 108 women, four location chiefs and eight sub-location chiefs were present, the women took out collective membership in CHEK and a management committee was constituted. This consisted of the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of CHEK, the Head of the Beekeeping Division of MOLD, the community development officer, the division and district livestock officers and a representative of the Sisters of Mercy. A local implementing committee was also elected consisting of the Women's Groups' leaders and the divisional government officers.

The project developed slowly. On United Nations Day, 24 October 1981, the Kenya Freedom from Hunger Council donated their routine “starter” kit to the Women's Group: five hives, one set of protective clothing and hive tools. Another 15 hives were donated by MIDP and later in the same year, OXFAM gave KSh 10,000 with which 5000 more hives were purchased.

In December 1981, positive offers of funding were received from the Canadian Presbyterian Church for what would be considered a “pilot” project. This grant was handled by the Canadian International Development Agency and consisted of a revolving, operating fund of KSh 30,000 for the purchase of honey and essentials for the marketing of both honey and wax (jars, labels, etc). Another KSh 47,000 were earmarked for the fencing of a 100-acre plot on which nectar-producing trees were to be planted, and KSh 12,000 for six visits spread over two years by an expert in apiculture. This money was only received in January 1983 by a Brother Burke of the Farmers' Training Centre, Molo, who invested most of it at 16 per cent interest. Finance Co. Ltd. The operating fund was banked in acct. no 5619. Assistance in this transaction was given by Women's Progress and, in particular by Mrs. Mary Okello, a bank official, and Mrs. Christine Hayanga, the Women Agriculture Credit Officer with AFRACA.

The 100 acres of land were to be planted with Prosopis, seedlings of which are available in Kenya, at 25 foot intervals. Three quarters of the trees were then to be removed for firewood and/or charcoal to allow the remainder to mature. The plantation was later to be turned over to the people, possibly subdivided into 10-acre plots for agroforestry intercropping etc. Unfortunately, it took until 1987 to identify these 100 acres which had, in the meantime passed from private ownership to that of the Kenya Government. When this was done, the area was found to be dense forest. The situation was rather tricky. It needed to be researched and assessed to see how many and which trees could be removed - if any - how much bushland could be cleared and then to proceed with the planting of indigenous nectar-bearing trees in preference to Prosopis, so as not to alter the taste of the Kibwezi honey.

Refining equipment, also donated by the Canadian Presbyterian Church, arrived on 9 December 1982 and was installed in temporary, rented quarters, paid for by CHEK for the first three months. Out of their honey proceeds the women were then able to pay the KSh 400 per month required.

In May 1982, CHEK received a grant of £2,000 from the United Kingdom-based Beatrice Laing Trust and a further equal grant from the same donor in 1983. This money was used towards the purchase of building materials for a honey-and-wax refinery, the plans for which were drawn up by the Vice-Chairman of CHEK, and approved by the medical and other authorities in January 1983. A brick-making women's group has organized to start producing sun-dried cement-stabilized earth blocks ahead of time. Another group of men and women did the required excavation work on a “Food for work” basis (see figures 2 and 3).

To enable the Women's Groups' Chairlady, Mrs. Ziporah Nganga, to devote her full time and energy to the women's interests CHEK paid her a regular salary of KSh 500 per month from December 1982 to February 1985, when the Women's Group had sufficient funds to take over this aspect of the operation. In 1989 the groups were paying KSh 1,500 per month in salaries to their Chairlady and the rotating two members of their groups who do the actual refining and bottling work.

Figure 2. Excavating the site for the honey-and-wax refinery, 1985.

In July 1983, a network of buyers was established throughout the division and posters were printed indicating who was buying honey where, on what days and at what price (see figure 4). In the same month, the Laing grant was audited in London and accounts certified as correct. The building was, however, not finished (see figure 5). To complete it an application was made to CIDA and a grant of KSh 116,809 was received from that source in September 1984. This covered the costs of a piped water supply to the refinery, solar heaters which eventually reduced refining times from 6 hours per batch to 45 minutes, and VIP (ventilated improved pit) latrines and showers. Work on these started immediately and was completed in 1985 (see figures 6 and 7).

Figure 3. The sun-dried earth-block walls completed for the refinery (1984)

Figure 4. Sample poster.

Figure 5. Refinery near completion.

On completion of these buildings, CHEK had fulfilled its commitments to the Women's Group on this particular aspect of the intended development. It was then felt that the plot on which the refinery was erected and which had, initially, been registered in CHEK's name to ensure its satisfactory development according to plan, could now safely be transferred to the women. This decision was also influenced by the abortive attempts which had been made to deprive the women of their project. These are described below. The transfer took some time but was completed on the 28th October 1985 when the plot was registered in the women's name.

Figure 6. Storage rain-water tank and solar heater.

Figure 7. The VIP (Ventilated improved pit) latrine.

A request by the women for assistance from the Peace Corps, resulted in the posting of a young American Volunteer at Kibwezi and in seconding a qualified economist to audit the Women's Groups' accounts and to teach them simple forms of bookkeeping. Later, from April 1985 to May 1987, the Groups benefited from the presence in Kibwezi of a new Peace Corp Volunteer who was a qualified small business advisor to rural women and who facilitated training seminars, organized work schedules and upgraded honey processing techniques to the point where production and sales increased and profits were shown for the first time in four years. When this Volunteer left, the project was deemed well established and there is no one in Kibwezi now assisting the women in running their own business (see figure 8).

Figure 8. The Bee-keeping Women's Group Executive Committee meets in, the refinery building's office. On the left, Miss Mwana Shehe a United States-trained, Kilifi (Kenya) - born Peace Corps economist, who taught the women simple accounting and book keeping methods. The speaker is Mrs. Zipporah Nganga, the Women's Groups' Chairperson.

As an outcome of happenings following a political crisis in an adjacent country, when CARE had to close down its very successful honey operation there, the services of one of its experts in beekeeping and honey processing were offered to CHEK to elaborate a comprehensive development plan for Kibwezi. This plan was discussed with members of the Beekeeping Division of the Ministry of Livestock Development and was approved by the Deputy Director. At that point it became clear, however, that the women's honey and wax operations were in danger of being taken out of their hands. The Government of Kenya installed a manager and an accountant at the refinery and made Mrs. Nganga its assistant manager with a salary of KSh 2000 per month - an offer she accepted. Funds for these developments were to come from a grant from the African Development Foundation, requested by Dr. M. Mullei through the United States Agency for International Development. A lightweight truck was to be allocated to the project to enable the purchase of honey from more remote areas and a large number of hives were to be acquired from the Beekeepers' Association who had achieved a monopoly of sorts in this matter.

In the meantime, the media gave the Women's Integrated Rural Development Programme a great deal of publicity. Not only had articles appeared from time to time in the three major Kenyan English newspapers, but a children's newspaper distributed to all primary schools in Kenya, published a special issue on “Bees - a natural resource” including a poster on beekeeping and reported many requests for extra copies and more information. The women's activities have also been the subject of a brief newsreel shown country-wide by the Ministry of information. Tribune, on women and development a quarterly magazine published by the International Women's Tribune Centre Inc., devoted its thirty-sixth newsletter, for the third quarter of 1986, to the Kibwezi women's beekeeping activities. International Agricultural Development published an article in its January/February 1987 issue entitled “Bees can buzz for the poor” with a special insert, “Kenya women make bees pay off”.

The beekeepers' and brickmakers' groups have participated in various trade fairs and exhibitions. As mentioned earlier the rural developments project was considered one of the five best in Kenya and Mrs. Nganga, representing the women, and the Vice-Chairman of CHEK, were invited by the Institute of Cultural Affairs to participate in the International Exhibition of Rural Development which was held at New Delhi from 10 to 23 February, 1984.

The Project has received many important visitors from overseas, among them Mrs. Zena Daysh, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, London, Mr. and Mrs. Harley the Administrators of the Laing Trust, and Prof. Smith of CIDA. Mrs. Vezina the Canadian Minister for the Environment visited the refinery in 1985 and was made an “honorary” Mkamba and dressed accordingly by the women. A large group of NGO participants in the Forum held on the occasion of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade of Women visited Kibwezi, as did an international delegation of university women attending a meeting on the theme “Women and shelter” in 1987. A representative of the German Appropriate Technology Exchange visited the developments started or implemented by the women in 1987, and was so impressed by what she saw that she initiated approval of a grant of DM 25,000 from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany towards the erection of the proposed canteen, classrooms and hostel. This money was received, plans for the canteen were drawn up and approved by the authorities concerned, and construction work started shortly thereafter. By October 1989, this was completed. Further funds for the hostel etc., have been promised by the same organization. In the meantime, the Canadian International Development Agency has been approached with a request for a spare set of honey refining equipment to avoid hold-ups in production due to possible mechanical failures and also to allow the capacity of honey and wax handled to be doubled.

It is clear from the foregoing that the women have very successfully become involved in a formerly exclusively male occupation and, in the process, have learned to trust their own abilities and to be self-reliant (see figure 9). All the groups have opened separate bank accounts and are now handling their income and their outgoing expenses themselves without any outside help whatsoever. Their account books have been regularly audited since November 1986. Where some men who used to be beekeepers have returned to their families, the women have engaged in a complicated system of work-and-income sharing with them: the men keep the bees and give the honey and wax to the women to sell and the women pay them a small fee for their actual work. This may well be a unique system of income-sharing between members of one family. Table 1 is a breakdown of the Women's Beekeeping groups.

Figure 9. Women bee-keepers show off their honey combs.

As can be seen from table 1 there are only 18 groups that are exclusively beekeepers. Each of these has been given two hives of the “top bar hung” variety by the Co-operative as a starting point. This type of hive is the monopoly of the Kenya Beekeepers' Association, a semi non-governmental organization attached to the Ministry of Livestock Development. Some 250 of these have been rejected by the bees. The reasons for the bees' refusal to inhabit them are being investigated. In addition to these two initial hives, several groups have bought some of these modernized types (at KSh 250, a considerable sum for rural women) and where the number of hives is mentioned in relation to any Group, it refers to these new types. There are many traditional hives in use and these are the main producers of honey and wax. Each of the four locations has set aside a plot on which 12 beehives are hung together. This is where novice or would be beekeepers can come and receive tuition. During the writer's most recent visit to Kibwezi on 20 September 1989, she was requested to find funds for and organize a new training course in apiculture for 80 women who wish to be taught, “properly”, and not by other women who may already have forgotten some of the things they had been taught.

Table 1. Women's beekeeping groups