The Challenge:
Beekeeping can be a profitable business for African smallholder farmers. Even when drought impacts other activities, farmers can diversify and build income through beekeeping. Thanks to pollination, beehives can also help farmers boost crop yields up to 30 percent within a two to three-kilometer radius. Despite these benefits, beekeeping has yet to develop at a large scale in West Africa. Lack of equipment, training, technology, and sustainable market linkages have constrained investment in the sector.
Our Solution & Impact:
USAID’s West Africa Trade & Investment Hub and Koster Keunen, a U.S. natural waxes company, are co-investing in the West African beekeeping industry. This investment will increase the value of exports to the United States by more than $8 million, improve beekeeping practices for 11,200 smallholder farmers, and create 1,200 new jobs across West Africa.
“We want to have a long-term commitment to the beekeeper and to show them that this is an activity that can be professional, and they can make recurrent income.”
Sylvain Cattin Koster Keunen’s General Manager for West Africa
