(ERGO) – Young jobless women are running a thriving new beekeeping enterprise on the outskirts of Baidoa, southern Somalia that is supporting their families and enabling them to plan their futures.
The women say they have already recovered the money they invested last July when they set up the beehives, and are earning a steady income that allows them to meet their basic needs.
Su’ad Adan Abdi, 20, one of the owners, said the business had transformed her life and enabled her to support her parents and eight siblings. She borrowed $70 to invest in the venture after friends invited her to join them.
Her farming family lost their crops due to poor rainfall last year. With no harvest, the responsibility for supporting the household fell on her. She now earns between $150 and $200 from the honey business.
“I can now manage my own life and support my family. This work helps me take care of everything important in our household. If the business wasn’t successful, I would have left it, but the benefits are much greater than the little money I invested because it helps the people who depend on me,” she told Radio Ergo.
Su’ad has also been able to return to school after dropping out last year when her parents could no longer afford the monthly fee of $20. She is in the final year of secondary school and has also enrolled three of her younger siblings in Koranic school, paying $12 per month for each.
With the income from honey sales, she also helped her parents clear debts of $400 owed to local shops for food.
The women’s 220 beehives produce honey every three months for sale mainly in Baidoa town. Each harvest generates at least $1,500 in revenue.
The women have trained 15 others and hired four of them after gaining practical experience. Among them is Habibo Ahmed Subow, 40, who spent two months being trained on managing the hives, including how to protect herself from bee stings when harvesting honey and feeding the bees.
She earns about $100 a month, which gives far more stability for her family of eight than her previous earnings of $50 collecting firewood to sell.
“Before this job I had no work,” she said. “Since I started working with the bees, my family and children have been able to live better. We harvest honey, take it to the market, and buy what we need. Before that my life was very uncertain and I had nothing.”
Since starting the beekeeping work last August, her hardships have eased and she is thinking about saving up to start a small business of her own. She has enrolled three of her children in primary school for the first time paying $15 a month.
Habibo’s family lives in Bula-tosi IDP camp after fleeing Wajid district in Bakool region in 2023 when drought halted cultivation on their four-hectare farm.
The women’s beekeeping group is led by Yasmin Ali, who said the 33 members spent six months saving money before launching the project with an initial investment of $2,300. Their first honey harvest was sold in November for about $800.
“We take it to places like Berdale and Dollow, not only Baidoa. Some of it even reaches markets outside Somalia, including Nairobi in Kenya. Our goal is to expand this business further so we can reach more markets both inside and outside the country,” she said.
They sell three litres of honey for about $55. Their products rarely stay long in storage. Yasmin described beekeeping as a profitable venture that can be started with relatively small capital.
The income has also helped her pursue her personal dream of attending university. In October she enrolled at Zamzam University in Baidoa to study medicine after managing to pay the $150 quarterly tuition fees.
“Starting this work has meant a lot for our lives,” she said. “We decided to create this initiative because unemployment is widespread in the city and we had no other way to support ourselves or continue our education.”
Youth unemployment remains a major challenge across many parts of Somalia, and only a small number of people are involved in beekeeping.
