How beehives help communities thrive

After decades as a beekeeper, Molly Moyo is still fascinated at the sight of the intricate honeycombs that form in her hives. She remains amazed at the way that a helping of honey can squelch a cough.

And she’s grateful that, by selling honey to others in southern Zimbabwe’s Gwanda district, she could put her children through school.

But over time, rainfall destroyed the hives that she had kept since the 1990s. The shifts in rain patterns — leading to prolonged droughts and flash floods — were gradual at first.

In the past five years, however, the changes have gotten more drastic. “Present is not the same as before,” she says. “Previously, flowers would be blooming. … But now it’s dry because of the change in climate.” 

When severe droughts came to the largely rural area in 2023 and 2024, farming families already reeling from unpredictable weather faced challenges with food security as crops and livestock died due to water shortages. Intensive mining in the region, while economically important, is worsening the severe water shortage and has, over time, taken nutrients out of the soil.

Everyone, including seasoned farmers like Moyo, felt the strain, but young adults perhaps felt the impact more than anyone.

As crops failed and livestock populations collapsed, young men began to leave the area to find work in other parts of Zimbabwe or in other countries altogether, fragmenting families.

Young women, meanwhile, stayed close to home, caring for loved ones and trying everything to keep family farms going. Scarcity worsened already severe challenges faced by many rural families, raising tensions within households and between neighbors.

Today, though, the buzzing of bees sings out as a sign of hope in rural communities where MCC partners work, not only on Moyo’s land but also on farms run by young adults in Gwanda and beyond. 

In 2023, MCC and partner organizations in Zimbabwe launched Locally-Led Indigenous Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation in Zimbabwe (or LINCZ), which is a multiyear MCC project, with funding from Global Affairs Canada.

Through this project, MCC partners like Brethren in Christ Compassionate and Development Services (BIC-CDS) are collaborating with local leaders to help households adapt to an ever-changing climate by conserving water, improving soil health and diversifying their income.

Moyo was among the local leaders invited to take part. BIC-CDS replaced her beehives and arranged for her to train local farmers — mostly young women — to start abundant apiaries of their own. 

But she is part of a group of young adults – 12 women and three men, ages 18-35 – who have embraced the opportunity to diversify their incomes amid these challenges.

They initially met because they all grew vegetables in the same part of town, near a dam that provided irrigation. Over time, they began working together through activities like basket-weaving and harvesting and selling tamarinds and fragrant mangos in the market.

The training on handling bees, paired with the provision of protective suits and smokers that keep bees calm when their hives are opened, left group members feeling confident. “We’re no longer afraid because we are trained,” Kuu Dulama Munkuli says with a smile.

Each attendee received four commercially produced beehives. Having these structures meant that new beekeepers wouldn’t have to cut down local trees in an already fraught ecosystem to craft traditional hives. KMTC also provided guidance on where to position the hives on their families’ properties, so that the bees would have sufficient food and water.

And the group’s apiary ambitions quickly paid off. 

In times of drought, having honey and beeswax on hand has allowed them to know the sweet feeling of financial security. Their neighbors buy honey for its medicinal properties, with many using it to help with high blood pressure. Additionally, the group knew that there was a market for products like lip balm and shoe polish. So, they taught themselves how to make these products from the wax left over from honey production.

Honey is in such high demand that 20 liters (5 gallons) typically fetches about US$200 — an equivalent to several months of average rural income in Zimbabwe, making the work more lucrative than mining. And it’s more reliable than vegetable farming. 

“Someone who has a beekeeping project can harvest better than someone who is depending on the crops,” says Chasombwa. “Bees don’t need much water like crops. So the bees can still survive” during droughts.

Because they have found stable sources of income close to home, group members plan to stay close by, leading and serving their communities, into the foreseeable future.

“We don’t have plans of leaving our community,” says Dulama Munkuli — unless, she adds, it’s to fulfill orders as their business grows. “As long as our project is doing well, we’ll stay.”

Sienna Malik is managing editor of A Common Place magazine. Annalee Giesbrecht, advocacy engagement animator and coordinator for the Peace & Justice Office of MCC Canada, provided reporting and photos.