THE lives of poverty-stricken farmers in the Mbale region of Uganda are being improved with help from Monmouth-based charity Bees for Development.

The charity, in partnership with the Mbale Coalition Against Poverty, is running a beekeeping training project in the region.

The project sees farmer-to-farmer beekeeping training from mentors within the Ugandan community, with the production of honey and wax supplementing the main cash crops of banana and coffee.

The Mbale region is one of the most densely populated parts of Uganda with 1,000 people per square kilometre. The intense use of natural resources in the area have resulted in severe deforestation and soil erosion.

The Welsh Government’s Ten Million Trees Project has done much to inform the region about the dangers of deforestation, highlighting the the importance of tree-planting to mitigate soil erosion and prevent landslides.

But with poverty prevalent in the region, many farmers seeking an immediate source of income rely on selling wood and charcoal, adding to the problem of deforestation.

The production of honey is seen as an eco-friendly income source which can counter this practice.

The farmers own at least ten bee hives each, with individual bee hives creating around five litres of honey per season. With two seasons per year, and a litre of honey being sold for around 16,000 Ugandan shillings (£4), each farmer looks to earn a minimum of 1,600,000 Ugandan shillings per year (£400).

This extra household income acts to alleviate the effects of poverty, and allows households to save for school and university fees.

Since the project’s inception in 2015, it has done much to empower young people and women in the the Mbale area who do not own land, giving them a say in the household’s income in a predominately male dominated society.

The next step for Monmouth’s Bees for Development is to concentrate on marketing the honey and wax products by developing a honey co-operative in the region to stimulate sales. This is alongside increasing the amount of mentors in the area.

In the Bees for Development Monmouth shop on Agincourt Street, alongside honey products a new ‘Alternative Gift’ card is available for Christmas.

The card is a new way of supporting the charity, and is currently only available from within the shop.

For more information on both the charity and the project visit beesfordevelopment.org