Food Security Nigeria Project #53765

Empower 200 Cameroonian Refugee Women inBeekeeping

by Amba Farmers Voice

Summary

Amba Farmers' Voice (AFV), an agricultural TV educational program for farmers, in partnership with refugee leaders is working to develop beekeeping as an income generating & sustainable livelihood project for 200 Cameroonian refugees, mostly women, in Cross River State, Nigeria. These refugees have fled violent conflict as a result of the ongoing 5 year war in Cameroon. The amount to fund the project is $25,000, & is projected at $125 per beneficiary & will cover cost of hives, suits, gloves etc

$25,000
total goal

$17,516
remaining

97
donors

0
monthly donors

2
years

Challenge

Over 80.000 Southern Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria are dependent on handouts for survival, a situation which is unsustainable as the war drags on. Most organizations assisting refugees focus on providing relief materials that tend to create dependencies among refugee populations. Beekeeping is an alternative to chronic poverty. Beekeeping offers hard-working people with proper training, opportunities to make an income for themselves and their families, and become independent & self sufficient

Solution

Provide refugees with technical knowledge & seed money to create & run sustainable income-generating ventures. AFV & two professional beekeepers from the US will train 200 refugees, mostly women, in beekeeping & assist them in creating a beekeeping coop. in refugee camps in the Cross River State. To ensure its viability, the project is designed following the successful Kenyan Top Hives model. Via monthly mentor-led free capacity building sessions with Nigerian villagers, to avoid any friction.

Long-Term Impact

By introducing beekeeping as an alternative livelihood over the next years, we will seek to drive economic development & self-reliance across the refugee camps & thus help alleviate poverty amongst the refugees in Nigeria. This new venture will develop a rigorous disease prevention program, to manage the apiaries following science-based proven beekeeping techniques to ensure high yields of quality honey. This is also a skillset which the refugees would take back home whenever the conflict ends.