Bee-keeping is a traditional activity in Dekaya in southern Ethiopia,

Dekaya, Ethiopia
Businesses around the world aspire to improve their productivity with new technologies.
And Ethiopia's honey farmers are not being left behind.


The new bee hives have increased honey output eight-fold

Bee-keeping is a traditional activity in Dekaya in southern Ethiopia, using hives made out of hollow logs.
Now, farmers have introduced more innovatively designed hives from Germany while still making the hive out of local wood.
The improvements have meant that each hive is producing about 26kg of honey, compared to the 3kg produced with the old-fashioned method.
The boost in honey output has come at a critical time for Dekaya's farmers who are facing less rain than usual and the threat of food shortages.
About 150 farmers have benefited from the new technology, after Action for Development provided technical training and the loans for the first hives to be used.
Now the farmers are setting themselves up as a cooperative, with the aim of securing their own loans from banks to buy new hives in the future.
"I think it has significantly changed the lives of these farmers and their families," said Action for Development's field officer, Teklearegay Jirane.
"The children can go to school, they have access to better accommodation, and one man has been able to build a new house with the money raised from selling honey."


DuDu communications
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