A beekeeping project for blind people

VISION

The Grahamstown Area Distress Relief Association (GADRA) is driven by a vision of poverty eradication through the empowerment of the community. To this end, GADRA provides counselling, training and the development of sustainable projects that enhance the dignity and independence of their beneficiaries.

GADRA strives to perform daily tasks with respect, understanding and empathy. They continually re-assess their progress towards attaining their goals and ideals.

OVERVIEW

This project provides training and equipment so that an organised group of six blind people can become income-generating beekeepers. The beneficiaries have been involved in the Grahamstown Area Distress Relief Association (GADRA)'s well-established community programme, which includes capacity-building interventions such as independent living courses, leadership programmes and Braille-reading; as well as activities such as gym and bowls. The involvement of the beneficiaries in this income-generating project is a new venture to provide livelihood opportunities for blind people. GADRA has established a public-private partnership with a local business, Makana Meadery, who will provide the beekeeping training, as well as a market for the honey. The emerging beekeepers have already undertaken the preliminary beekeeping course. All members of this group are heads of their households, and their only current source of income is their disability grant.

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

• The project will provide new vocational skills and income-generation opportunities for visually-disabled people. This project is designed to set up the beekeeping initiative, and once that has been achieved, GADRA plans to expand the project.
• Two of the beneficiaries are Braille trainers and they are working with the Makana Meadery beekeeping trainer to establish a course to teach blind people how to keep bees. The GADRA project will then be expanded into the site and resource for more visually-impaired participants to partake.
• GADRA has strong relationships with blind associations nationwide, and they intend to share their expertise and this model with other projects in order to increase blind people's vocational and income-generating opportunities in South Africa.
• GADRA's established public-private partnership with Makana Meadery provides the beekeepers with a developed market for their honey.

EXPECTED LIFE CHANGE

An investment of R33 950 enables Gadra to set up the first phase of the beekeeping project that will involve six visually-impaired, unemployed beneficiaries. The two women and four men involved in the pilot project are all heads of households that depend on their disability grants for income.

Expected Life Change:

• Six visually-impaired adults will gain new skills in beekeeping, which will bolster their independence and self-esteem.
• The six beneficiaries and their 16 dependents will benefit from additional income.
• GADRA's services for blind people will be expanded into income generation. The organisation will also benefit from having a new revenue stream that will contribute towards their sustainability.
• Direct life change at a cost of R1 358 per life.

This project has breadth, depth, intensity and permanence in that it has the potential to impact positively on the vocational, economic, psychological and social aspects of the beneficiaries' lives.

NEED

Less than 3% of blind people are employed in South Africa. People are born blind or become blind due to violence, ill health or old age. In the Eastern Cape, there are an estimated 107 000 blind people. They qualify for a disability government grant of roughly R820 per month, and in many cases this may be the only source of income in their households. A lack of opportunities to learn skills, and a lack of resources to start businesses results in dependency, low incomes, poor self-esteem and social isolation.

STRATEGY

GADRA Advice and Community Work has a well-established programme to assist blind people in independent living. This includes Braille reading, leadership courses and social and sporting activities. Recently, they launched vocational skills training with the aim of establishing income-generating projects that will substantially improve the lives of their beneficiaries. There is already a sewing project for the blind; the beekeeping project is the second initiative of this kind.

Public-Private partnership for training and market: GADRA has established a public-private partnership with local business Makana Meadery, who will provide the beekeeping training. They will work with the GADRA beneficiaries to develop a beekeeping course for blind people, which can be used as a model for transferring new vocational skills to blind people in South Africa. The GADRA group of beneficiaries will supply their honey to Makana Meadery, giving them access to a developed market.

Provision of start-up resources: The GADRA beekeepers will establish their hives in a container on the GADRA premises at the Grahamstown Day Hospital. Permission for this has been secured. There are fields and gardens with ample flowering plants in the surrounding area. The project will provide basic equipment such as smokers, and the necessary protective clothing.

ACTION PLAN

Preparation

A container, hives, other equipment and protective clothing will be purchased and set up at GADRA.

Implementation

The beekeepers will undertake the second part of their beekeeping training course with Makana Meadery.

Monitoring

The project will be monitored by the manager of GADRA and the director of Makana Meadery. GADRA will provide the necessary financial and administrative services.

RISK PROFILE

Key Strengths

• Concept: The project has identified beekeeping as an income-generating activity that blind people can perform. The beneficiaries have undergone Phase One of their training with excellent results. All the participants want to train further and set up the project. The project is rooted in a private-public partnership that enables the transfer of skills to the beneficiaries, and also provides them with a market for their honey. The project has the potential to develop into a replicable model for income-generation for blind people.
• Design: GADRA has access to the proven beekeeping expertise of Makana Meadery. The methods of beekeeping are simple. The project is well-supported by the intentions and infrastructure of both GADRA and Makana meadery.
• Capability: GADRA has strong, committed leadership with sufficient depth to execute this project. Makana Meadery has experienced and expert directors. Two of the beneficiaries are Braille trainers who have the proven ability to act as leaders in the blind group.
• Control: GADRA has all the normal governance, administrative systems and financial controls in place that are expected of a long-established, accountable non-profit organisation.
• Sustainability: The beneficiaries will receive the life skill of beekeeping, making the lasting impact of the project on the beneficiaries' lives potentially significant.

Key Risks

• Concept: There are inherent risks in any private-public partnership that the relationship may not be positively sustained over time. This is mitigated by the strength of the existing GADRA/ Makana Meadery relationship in the context of a close local community. This risk is also mitigated by the fact that it will be possible for the beekeepers to find other local markets for their honey, should the partnership not be as long-lasting as is expected. The beneficiaries' participation is voluntary and there is always a risk that they may drop out of the group for a range of reasons.
• Capability: There is an inherent risk of leading people resigning and leaving the project.
• Sustainability: The long-term sustainability of the beekeeping project is dependent on people being interested in beekeeping on an ongoing basis.
• External: The project is subject to unpredictable factors that affect most agribusinesses. Drought can adversely affect the production of honey. There is a very low risk that the hives wouldn't be inhabited by bees. There is a low risk of theft, as hives are a popular target, but the container will be well-secured on the GADRA premises.