Beekeeping project Ferme SAIN (Solidarités Agricoles Intégrées) is an agricultural organisation, focusing on agroecology and agroforestry; It is also a school, teaching people, with/without an education, how to provide for themselves in terms of food production without hurting their environment. Thanks to being in contact with a lot of universities, this place has become a true innovative laboratory of agriculture. Through their activities, they want to encourage self-development of the Kakanitchoé, the inhabitants of a small rural village, south-west in Bénin, where ferme SAIN is located. The main objective is to improve the livelihood of the rural communities and to slow down the brain-drain.

Ferme Sain wants to promote the development of the Kakanitchoé and improve the livelihood of the community. They want to slow down the brain-drain of the youth towards the urban centres. Besides that, Ferme Sain wants to prevent the locals from exploiting the land and its resources through intensive farming methods and the use of non-environmental friendly pesticides.

One of the main goals for the future are to develop an high quality educational program on agroecological techniques and make it available to even the most vulnerable of the community (especially young people and women). Another thing they want to accomplish, is supporting the locals in the development of their own economically durable activities.

One way to strengthen the economic position of the vulnerable people of the community is to diversify their sources of incomes. That is why they want to start a communal beekeeping project at the farm. The honey and all its by-products could form a sustainable additional income to women and young people of the community. Additionally, this will also positively impact the biodiversity of its surroundings.

If you apply for this project and get accepted for the team, the following would be, amongst others, your challenges and goals:

– Developing an action plan for starting and expanding Ferme Sain’s beekeeping activities

– Studying the value chain of honey production

– Conducting a market study of the demand for honey and its by products in the region and developing a marketing plan

– Developing a specific educational program for teaching the locals about the most efficient ways of beekeeping

During the preparation months in Belgium you will mainly concentrate on the development of the beekeeping activities and the market study, while during the implantation phase of 6 weeks in July and August, you will help the organisation with the installation and marketing strategy.