Yittiliah and with her group members, with the newly acquired bee hives

The buzzing sounds of bees working and searching for nectar, water and more ingredients to produce honey is the dominant sound you hear in the skies of Ziyapenduka village. Not only is a healthy syrup being produced but also a safe habitat for the almost extinct African bee has been created.

Yittiliah is one of the 31 program participants under the DREAMS SMART program who have been trained and are making use of their hands to practice Apiculture widely known as bee farming. Apiculture is regarded as an environmentally friendly income-generating project as it not only creates a safe habitat for the bees but also enables the functioning of the ecosystem.

Having started with 14 hives made of tree bucks, Yittiliah and her fellow group members saved money from their honey sales and bought 7 modern standard hives. The new hives will allow Yittiliah and her group members to harvest at most 20 litres per hive, translating to 140 litres from the seven hives.

Apart from being trained in Apiculture, Yittiliah and other AGYW also benefitted from the primary service package sessions, including HIV prevention, gender norms and financial literacy. Which has empowered her to make informed decisions about her health and not engage in risky sexual behaviours.

“DREAMS has given me knowledge on what to do to prevent HIV and AIDS including sexually transmitted infections,” she said.

The DREAMS SMART program complements the Sustainable Development Goals 12, 13 and 15 by encouraging participants to practice environmentally friendly projects which do no harm to the ecosystem.