Women deposit money into a credit union during a weekly meeting of the Serten Endege, a support organization for women from the Agew community in Beshenty, 18km from Bahir Dar. The the meeting allows women deposit money into their credit union and discuss honey production. The Serten Endege was established three months ago among women who use traditional beehives but are looking to move to modern beehives following training from the Zembaba Union. This training motivated them to form the Serten Endege. The Serten Endege are not yet a constituent coop of the Zembaba Union.

Harvesting honey supplements the income of small farmers in the Ethiopian region of Amhara where there is a long tradition of honey production. However, without the resources to properly invest in production and the continued use of of traditional, low-yielding hives, farmers have not been able to reap proper reward for their labour.

The formation of the Zembaba Bee Products Development and Marketing Cooperative Union is an attempt to realize the potential of honey production in Amhara and ensure that the benefits reach small producers.

By providing modern, high-yield hives, protective equipment and training to beekeepers, the Cooperative Union helps increase production and secure a steady supply of honey for which there is growing demand both in and beyond Ethiopia. The collective processing, marketing and distribution of Zembaba's "Amar" honey means that profits stay within the cooperative network of 3,500 beekeepers rather than being passed onto brokers and agents. The Union has signed an agreement with the multinational Ambrosia group to supply honey to the export market.

Zembaba Bee Products Development and Marketing Cooperative Union also provides credit to individual members and trains carpenters in the production of modern hives.

Photo: Tom Pietrasik
Amhara. Ethiopia
November 16th 2010