Support 1000 young mothers with beehives in Uganda

BUDONGO WOMEN BEE ENTERPRISES (BUWOBE) which started in 2013 as a small project for improving the livelihood of rural women bordering the Budongo forest corridor has now grown into a big enterprise scaling to other two districts of Buliisa and Hoima in the mid-western region of Uganda.

Thanks to the SEED INITIATIVE Fund and the Young Women Transform Prize 2018, of USAID managed by Making Cents International helped to actualize our concept with which we have managed to reach 2,000+ women with bee-keeping skills thanks to The Innovation Village with funding from the Mastercard Foundation Skilling project, 1,000+ beehive boxes and tools for making modern bee hives.

In 2023, ten years later the National Social Security Fund, (NSSF- Uganda) through the HI INNOVATOR PROGRAM gave a push to BUWOBE to a higher level. The grant has enabled us to acquire;

• Modern honey-processing machines
• Honey harvesting gear for the farmers.
• Facilitate certification of honey products to meet international standards.

Thanks also to The Innovation Village (TIV) through the MasterCard Foundation that enabled Safeplan Uganda to train youths in modern beekeeping between 18-35 years across Masindi and the nearby district of BULIISA.

BUWOBE LANDMARKS

1. 1,500 Youths newly trained in modern beekeeping to date courtesy of TIV
2. 500 Beehives distributed to the youth groups
3. BUWOBE honey processing factory opened at Katama village with a handling capacity of 1,000Kg per day.
4. An assortment of Beehive boxes, Bee suits, tools, honey warmer packing machines and motorcycles all procured through the High Innovator program.
5. Certification for honey products at the completion stage Hi Innovator.

CURRENT NEEDS

BUWOBE is now on the road to scale honey production for export, we need additional support in;

• Managing the collection centres to feed the honey processing factory at Katama village.
• Activities that are geared towards the protection of the pollinators and their habitats by the rural communities.
• Innovations in modern Apiary management such as Smart Bee farming technologies,
• Ensuring all trained women have at least 5 beehive boxes each.
• Searching for New markets for our cleaned honey and its bye products.
• Volunteers with technical expertise in modern bee farming such as queen breeding.