Dodoma arms its peasants with climate resilience skills
Among the lessons taught is on the division of labour and the medium of communication between the queen and other bees in a beehive.
THURSDAY June 19, 2025
By The Tranquility News Reporter, Tanzania
Dozens of farmers from semi-arid districts of Chemba and Kondoa, Dodoma Region, are in Monduli District, Arusha Region, to acquire theoretical and practical skills on beekeeping and its value chain.
Honey being the sole bee product in Chemba and Kondoa, beekeeping is not considered as a productive activity in the districts and its practice is threatening the safety of bees, reproduction of crops, food cycle and the life at large.
Bertha Alex from Gwandi Ward in Chemba District admits that they still practice outdated skills, including applying fire during harvesting honey, killing most of the bees in beehives which they obtain through peeling off barks of live trees.
“With this training, our ancestors and we would have saved millions of bees and our livelihoods would be much better,” Aziza Nkamia, another farmer from Keikei Village in Kondoa District, regrets.
Unlike the traditional beekeeping practices requiring a beekeeper to climb trees to reach beehives, skills they acquire through the training provided under the auspices of Inades-Formation Tanzania are friendly to women, Bertha observes.
With this training, our ancestors and we would have saved millions of bees and our livelihoods would be much better,” Aziza Nkamia, a farmer from Keikei Village in Kondoa District, Dodoma Region.
A Monduli beekeeper’s two-story beehive kept on a stand allows the queen to settle beneath and the combs to be created in the upper compartment, enabling a female beekeeper to harvest bee products hassle free.
“Our traditional beehives hung on the trees need at least two persons to harvest bee products,” Bertha explains.
Aziza promises, in turn, that she will widely share the knowledge with other villagers back home, pleading with Inades-Formation Tanzania to consider conducting the training regularly for them to master the scientific beekeeping practices.
Besides honey, the Monduli beekeepers also extract other products, including bee wax, royal jelly, bee venom, and propolis.
Lessons Monduli District Beekeeping Officer Brown Piano is training the farmers include on forming bee colonies; the role of a queen in a colony; and replacement of a queen in a colony in case of death, disappearance after mating or division of a colony.
Equally taught during the exciting training to the farmers is a lesson on division of labour and the medium of communication between the queen and other bees in a beehive.
Mohamed Semdoe, Chemba District Environment Officer, who accompanied the farmers, says the overarching goal of the training and the study tour, is to encourage beekeepers in the two districts to enhance the beekeeping value chain.
Chemba and Kondoa districts have sufficient forests laden with miombo and migunga trees which are suitable for the production of the bee products, said the official, adding:
“We hope towards the end of the training and the study tour, each farmer will keep at least 50 modern beehives to boost their incomes and improve livelihoods of their families.”
Inades-Formation Tanzania is carrying out a project in 10 villages of the two districts to build the capacity of villagers to adjust to and mitigate impacts compounded by climate change.
The project targets to heighten resilience to impacts of climate change to groups of villagers engaging in agriculture, environmental conservation, savings and credit, and entrepreneurship, among others.
Some of the impacts of climate change villages in the project area are grappling with include unpredictable rainfall patterns and farming seasons as well as diminishing natural resources.
The climate resilient skills tailor-made for drought-stricken areas are imparted to both farmers and livestock keepers. These include cultivating resistant crops, culling livestock, and adding value to crops and livestock.
Inades-Formation Tanzania also empowers the villagers to engage in entrepreneurial activities and manage savings and credit societies. Moreover, it links them up with extension officers, suppliers, markets, and lenders, mostly financial institutions and district councilsΩ
