Beekeeping

Our main objective of the project is to educate the school students in Maasai community to harvest honey and train them for beekeeping maintenance and conservation. This project will also help us understand how to build resilient bee colony in the Maasai Land area. Data and research findings will be shared with the broader scientific communities in the future.

With a generous private grant, Mswakani Primary School located in Monduli District in Arusha Region is partnering with TAWIRI ( Tanzanian Wildlife Research Institute) to launch Beekeeping training at the school . Mswakini Primary School is located in the Buffer zones of Tarangire National Park, one of the largest National Parks in the Northern circuit. The Maasai people living in this area are pastoralists. Grazing livestock is the only possible source of livelihood in this part of the Maasai land. Mswakini school was established in 1977 ( by the Tanzanian Government) with the aim of supporting the Maasai community. All the students are Maasai from the surrounding areas. There are 536 students in total currently attending the school. The location around Mswakani school has very favorable conditions for beekeeping type of initiatives. There are enough places to hang the bee hives and water holes for water. The school authority is very happy for this beekeeping project for the school.

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Main Objectives:

• To help Mswakani Primary School in the Maasai community build a self-sustainable economy.

• To train members of the Masaai community in honey production.

• To help the community sell honey in the local and international market. 

• To inform the community about beekeeping and its conservation. 

• To gather data and conduct research on beekeeping in Tanzania

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Core Team Members:

Dr. Nicephor Pius Lesio (PhD)
Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute,
Njiro Wildlife Research Centre

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Mary J. Kipoon
Head Teacher, Mswakini Primary School

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Leonard A. Sangeth
Field Director, Project Mswakini

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