Beekeeping Program

In Bidi Bidi, honey is money. We are investing in these men and women (and bees!) as they rebuild their lives.

Obakki Foundation founder Treana Peake is a trained beekeeper and her goal was always to bring this viable vocation to our partners in Bidi Bidi.

Uganda has a strong traditional beekeeping culture, but the yield is quite small. Different NGOs had provided more modern and complicated hives in the past with no training or follow up, which resulted in fancy hives being used as footstools. We set up a 3-day introductory beekeeping workshop that offered instruction and advice on both systems.

Our inaugural group of students were engaged and curious and, most importantly, invested. Some of them walked eight kilometres every day to attend our workshop and they were grateful for the opportunity.

One woman had 2 children of her own before taking in a baby she found in the forest, another left on her doorstep and a third who had been recently orphaned. She was now a single mother of five and beekeeping will feed her family. Every person in our workshop had a similar story, all of them very aware that beekeeping will support their families.

Once students have graduated from the full beekeeping program, they will be put into cluster groups to share equipment, but every person will get a hive. When honey is produced, the Obakki Foundation will process it, buy it at better-than-market pricing, and sell it throughout the region. This closes the market gap that often exists with these kinds of projects (lacking a market to sell the product).

All of the proceeds we make from selling the honey will go back into the beekeeping program and more advanced students will be trained to teach beginners, allowing the project to become even more self-sufficient. This full-circle support will ensure that every student is set up for success. We can’t wait to share their progress with you!