Bees/or Development Journal 85 CABESI PROJECT

CABESI - a multi-faceted, self-help projectRolf Gloor, Kapenguria, Kenya and Hans-Ulrich Thomas, Zurich, Switzerland

Cabesi stands for Camels, Bees & Silk.These seemingly unrelated items play acentral role in a development project fundedby BioVision Foundation.

The West Pokot District is a marginalised area in north-west Kenya,bordering Uganda with a population of approximately 310,000. Only 4%of the 10,000 km2 of land can be cultivated: the rest is semi desert.Land degradation is severe, due to use of the land for livestock grazingand tree felling for firewood. Water is scarce and together with disputesover grazing rights, often leads to feuds and frequent food shortages.

The Cabesi Project trains self-help groups and individuals in differentskills. Emphasis is put on the economic empowerment of women, whoare often overlooked when it comes to development activities anddecision making.

The skills taught are beekeeping, malaria prevention, silk production,camel husbandry, and mango processing. 'Cabesi Clubs' have beenestablished in four local schools. They meet on a weekly basis andlearn more about beekeeping, environment and human health issues.

CamelsCamels are perfect animals for transportation: their hooves are lessdamaging to the ground than the hooves of cows or donkeys. The initialidea of Cabesi was to introduce the camels as transport animals (whichhad never been done in the region), to enable beekeepers from remoteplaces to sell their honey in the centres. The bigger project developedout of this idea.Thirty young camels were bought in Wajir, about 550 km away, andafter several weeks long walk, arrived at West Pokot. Some local peoplewere sent for training as camel drivers. They are now applying theirskills in training the animals for their duties.

Cubesi

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BeesThe last three years have been usedto build up the necessaryinfrastructure for the beekeepingpart of the Project. Three honeycollection centres have been built \d 350 frame hives distributed to

beekeepers and schools. Aftermany trials, a local carpenter is now able toproduce hives at a favourable price.A continuous job is training of local groups in sustainable beekeepingmethods. In Pokot, bees are kept in log hives - hollowed out tree trunkssuspended in trees. Owing to the high defensiveness of the local bees,harvesting honey had meant the destruction of the nest or probable lossof the colony through absconding. Keeping honey bees in frame or top-bar hives makes the job of honey harvesting easier, and also makes imore possible for women.The locally managed collection centres are buying honey from farmersfor a price above the normal market price. After extraction the honey istransported to Kapenguria, the main city in Pokot. In the newlyconstructed market place, the honey is processed, bottled, labelled andpacked well for the bumpy truck ride to Nairobi. Selling it there for agood price is no problem. A first trial with 1,200 jars for export to theUK has just been concluded. Most of the staff in the market place arewomen in need of income for themselves and survival of their families.

Stingless beesIn tropical areas stingless bees and honey bees are both important forpollination. Stingless bee nests are usually small and well hidden. Thehoney from stingless bees is highly esteemed by local people, is usedin medicines and commands a very high price. Whoever finds a nest isthe 'owner' of that colony and decides when time has come to harvest.Unfortunately nests are usually destroyed in that process. In a futureproject more sustainable forms of management have to be introduced,drawing on experiences with other species around the world.

The Project provides training and prioritises the economic empowerment of women Beautifully made and packaged candles - several thousand have been sold

CABESI PROJECT Bees/or Development Journal 85

Beeswax and propolisUntil Cabesi started in 2004, beeswax was not used by Pokot peopleand was discarded. This has now changed with the project yieldingenough wax for the production of foundation for the frame hives andcandles of different shapes and sizes. This is another product which ishighly requested and gives women urgently needed income.Propolis cream, which helps in many skin irritations, is produced on asmall-scale and enjoys a high demand in the local communities.

OutlookTo date the Cabesi programme has been a success. 400 beekeepershave benefited from training and good honey prices, 150 groupmembers have benefited through education and work in the centres,about 40 camel owners have benefited through training, and many morethrough improved camel health. In addition 10 malaria scouts and 10staff in the market place benefited through salaries, as well as fourschools from extra curricula activities. The numbers are equallyimpressive: 10 tonnes of honey, 50 kg of sun dried mango, 200 kg ofpropolis and several thousand candles have been sold. Value addition isthe idea, in which Cabesi wants to set an example. Every single step upto the final product is carried out within the district. This is the first

l^jcessing and production plant in the whole district, bringing jobs andincome to the area.While quite a few things have been achieved, much is left to be done.Besides the practical work, other abilities and skills are needed.Business-orientated thinking and management of money, book-keepingand recording are not easy tasks in the community, where 7 out of 10people are illiterate. Beekeeping itself has to improve in order toproduce more quality honey. All this is done towards the two majorgoals: improvement of the life situation of the neglected PokotCommunity through a sustainable use of the natural resources, and theconservation of the delicate environment. Proceeds from sales of candles provide women with urgently needed income

BioVision is an independent, non-profit Swiss foundation which is politically and denominationally-neutral. BioVision is active in the disseminationand implementation of scientific methods for sustainable improvement of living conditions in Africa. BioVision was founded in 1998 by HansRudolf Herren, with the aim to sustainably improve the living conditions of people in Africa and conserving nature as the basis of all life.For further information see www.biovision.ch/E

3REAI BE _ADI ES

Cfaire ChavasseThe Irish beekeeping community lost one of their leading beekeeperswith the death of Claire Chavasse in August 2007. Many of those whoparticipated in the Apimondia Congress in Dublin in 2005 willremember Claire, who ensured that the Workshops on Beekeeping forRural Development we\e so smoothly run, enabling experts to giveperfect demonstrations of candle making, carpentry and many otherpractical aspects of beekeeping. Claire Chavasse was both expertpractitioner and expert lecturer in beekeeping, always providingmeticulously prepared, scientifically correct information, yet delivered ina style that encouraged learning. Claire would always question ratherthan take statements and traditional teachings as absolute, and had notime for poor standards.

Claire was laid to rest in the graveyard where the tree had grown thatprovided the timber for the top-bar hives made at the Workshopsmentioned above. Claire was a marvellous lady: a kind and generousfriend and mentor to many people.

Eva CraneEva Crane died in early September 2007: the following week, at theopening ceremony of the Apimondia Congress in Melbourne,participants observed a minute in silent remembrance of this lady.Amongst the audience of apicultural scientists and beekeepers therewould have been few who had not at some stage consulted her work,now published in many languages. Eva Crane was an erudite lady whomade the field of documentation of apicultural science her own. Wellinto her eighties, Eva Crane continued to work, writing major texts suchas The world history of beekeeping and honey hunting, and gainingrespect beyond the 'bee world' as her studies took her into the fields ofanthropology and archaeology.The great feature of Eva Crane's work isthat every statement, every reference, can be relied upon to bescientifically correct. Her aim was to procure information about bees, topresent it in a rigorously scientific way, and so that people couldsubsequently gain access. Organising information took the form ofcreating a library, databases, identifying and cataloguing museum items,and any other route necessary for collating information such that itbecame accessible.I feel fortunate to have known Eva Crane - without her and the existenceof the International Bee Research Association (IBRA), our ownorganisation, Bees for Development, would not exist today.

Nicola Bradbear