Hard-working farmers. Untapped potential. A honey industry ready for greater investment.
The Malawi Bee Products Association (MBPA), together with Bees for Development UK, 14th to 19th September 2026 conducted a scoping visit in Malawi’s Northern Region to explore opportunities for strengthening beekeeping livelihoods, farmer organisations, training, market development and sustainable growth of the bee products industry. The visit brought together a diverse range of stakeholders, institutions and farmer organisations, providing an opportunity to understand the realities facing beekeepers on the ground and, importantly, the opportunities that exist to transform beekeeping into an even stronger source of household income and community development.
Farmers are already creating change
Across the communities visited, one message was clear: Malawi has dedicated farmers who are willing to work and invest in beekeeping. For many households, beekeeping is already contributing to improved livelihoods. Some farmers have been able to build houses, pay school fees, purchase food and meet other basic family needs using income generated from their beekeeping activities. These achievements demonstrate that beekeeping is not simply an agricultural activity. For rural households, it can provide an additional source of income while encouraging the conservation of trees and natural ecosystems that are essential for healthy bee populations. Yet, the potential is much greater.
What farmers need is the opportunity to grow
Despite their commitment and hard work, many farmers continue to face practical challenges that limit the scale and quality of their production. Some of the most important gaps is access to practical training and appropriate equipment and low rate of Colonization with an overage of 70%. Many farmers would like to learn how to construct their own quality bee hives using locally available materials. This could significantly reduce the cost of establishing and expanding apiaries while creating local skills and employment opportunities.
Farmers need access to bees wax markets to realize more benefits from bee production and also essential protective equipment such as bee suits, gloves, gumboots and other beekeeping tools. Without adequate protection, handling bees can be difficult and discouraging, particularly for new and young beekeepers. For farmers who are already demonstrating that beekeeping can pay school fees, improve housing and support household needs, relatively small investments in skills, equipment, organisation and market access could help unlock significantly greater opportunities.
Connecting knowledge, farmers and markets
The scoping visit explored opportunities for building stronger linkages between farmers, training institutions, government, development organisations and markets.
The team visited several important sites and institutions, including:
- Mzuzu University Apiary and the proposed site for an Apiculture Resource Training Centre, highlighting opportunities for practical training, research, innovation and knowledge sharing. Mzuni is offering Apiculture course in its second year of Degree in Forestry and will soon have bee club to keep students engaged throughout.
- Kwithu Kitchen with capcity to buy 50 tones of honey annually, where the team engaged with community-level farming initiatives.
- The Hunger Project Rumphi Office and field sites in Zorokere Traditional Authority, providing insights into community-based development in nutrition, wash and livelihood opportunities.
- A visit to Zolokere Technical college dealing with designs and fablications with potential of sawing bee suits locally.
- Rumphi District Agriculture Office, strengthening engagement with government agricultural extension structures.
- Find Your Feet, a key stakeholder supporting farmer organisations and community development initiatives.
- Peach parks Malawi to understand how they are working with bee farmers in Nyika and Vwaza buffer zones
- World life Society of Malawi to bring an undetanding of how bees are being protected within the world life protection set-up.
The team also interacted with farmer organisations including Tiyane Farmer Club, Thanzima Cooperative in Rumphi Under Kwithu Kitchen and Rumphi District Agriculture Office and Limbikani Farmer Field School in Nkhata Bay, under Find Your Feet.These engagements provided an important opportunity to listen directly to farmers, understand their experiences and identify areas where partnerships and investment could generate practical results.
From local hives to bigger opportunities
The Northern Region has the people, natural resources and growing farmer structures needed to support a stronger bee products industry. What is needed is continued investment in farmer capacity, locally appropriate hive technologies, protective equipment, quality improvement, aggregation, market linkages, research and organisational strengthening.The proposed Apiculture Resource Training Centre presents one potential platform for bringing some of these interventions together providing practical training, promoting locally made equipment, supporting research and creating a space where farmers can learn from one another. For MBPA and its partners, the goal is not simply to increase the number of beekeepers. It is to help build skilled, organised and commercially viable beekeeping communities capable of producing quality bee products, accessing better markets and creating sustainable livelihoods.
An opportunity for partnership
The stories emerging from the Northern Region demonstrate that farmers are already investing their time, labour and resources in beekeeping. Their achievements show what is possible even when support is limited.
The next step is to invest in their potential.
Support for practical training, hive-making skills, protective equipment, farmer organisation, research, market development and sustainable beekeeping can help more households turn the potential of bees into tangible improvements in their lives. MBPA, together with Bees for Development UK and other partners, is committed to building a stronger and more sustainable honey and bee products sector in Malawi one that creates income for rural families, supports young people and women, strengthens local enterprises and contributes to environmental conservation.
The farmers are ready. The potential is there. With the right partnerships and investment, Malawi’s beekeepers can go much further.
