Youth from Kitui County Reap Thousands from Bee and Rabbit Keeping
The story of Erick Munyao Mutwii, a youthful bee keeper from Lower Yatta Sub County, Kitui County is an inspiration on the possibilities the youth have in engaging in constructive agribusiness to earn sustainable livelihoods. Unlike other youth, Erick opted to pursue farming instead of choosing the path of idleness and being broke. The journey to farming began many years back. In 2013, Erick and other youth started a youth group that did not see the light of the day even after its registration was done.
In 2018, Cereal Growers Association (CGA) and Christian Aid through the Cereal Value Enhancement Project (CVEP) availed to Erick and the larger youthful population an opportunity to learn new farming technologies. Erick and the other youth were trained in agroforestry, rabbit keeping, and poultry farming. As a group, they had two options, to invest in agroforestry or bee keeping. The group chose bee keeping. The group of 24 youth requested for a space at KALRO to keep the bee hives and that’s when CVEP project noticed their potential and started supporting the group by fencing the beehive area, providing 10 advanced beehives and protective gear. Through interaction with other youth groups, Erick and other youth formed Mikuyu Agribusiness Hub consisting of 24 members who were trained on agroforestry, bee keeping, rabbit keeping, millet and green gram farming from CVEP. After the training, each group member was tasked to contribute one beehive. The group further added 10 acres of land for bee hive farming.
Apart from the group, Erick had his personal bee hives. “I would harvest 1kg of honey and sell at KES 1,000 or a minimum of KES 800 depending on the market. For ½ kg, I would sell at KES 500 or a minimum of KES 400. So when I harvest like 5kgs, I make KES 5,000,” acknowledges Erick. From making sales, Erick can comfortably cater for his basic needs such as buying food and clothes for his family.
The training from CVEP enabled Erick to start building beehives by himself. He began with 5-beehives and today, Erick has 25-beehives hoping to build 30 more before the end of the year. Beekeeping has had a tremendous impact on Erick. “Right now, I cannot say I don’t have money. I am able to harvest and sell the honey then use the money to buy food and medicine. The money from beekeeping has also helped me to pay a medical bill of KES 20,000 for my mother because no one would take care of her after my father passed away,” Erick narrates. There was a time Erick harvested 38 kgs of honey which he sold 30kgs.
In his statement, Erick does not understand how youth say there is no employment yet in beekeeping, he is able to earn good money. He suggests the youth need to find opportunities for training like he did and immerse themselves in agribusiness because depending on the government for jobs is suicidal.