Project Objectives and intended results.

The goal of the project is to promote sustainable beekeeping and grass cutter rearing activity for smallholder families along the fringes of the Kyabobo National Park in the Nkwanta District, that impact positively in a broader economic sense and also creates consciousness about the importance of biodiversity/ conservation.

Records indicate that between 2005 to date, 26 arrests of poachers in the Kyabobo Park were made and 56 guns confiscated. This is an indication that about three or four times the above number of poaching has gone on behind the scene necessitating the need for WADEP to intensify the promotion of alternative income generation activities. Based on this experience, the idea is to add grass cutter rearing to the already existing activities along the fringes of the Kyabobo National Park. Besides, linkages will be created with existing and new tourism activities. WADEP hopes this will reduce poaching activities of the people along the forest reserve in search for games. The aim is to increase as well as strengthen the income base of the people and reduce necessity for poaching to the barest minimum. The incidence of poaching in the forest reserve and arrest of poachers, imprisonment and conflict between the rangers and the communities would become a thing of the past.

Description of Project activities

The project will directly benefit about 12 fringe communities around the Kyabobo National Park and communities within the district. Indirectly, the project will influence the opportunities for a greater number of communities linked to them by way of membership of productive organizations at district level.

The following are the main activities that will be implemented in part simultaneously:

1. The existing beekeeping platform and beneficiary communities will be strengthened to coordinate support of the different participants towards beekeepers and grasscutter rearers. The take-off point will be the joint vision for the needed change in the sector through the commercialization of the honey business..
2. A strategic planning process will be undertaken with the NDBA and communities involved to discuss a new vision and roles for the people and/or look for complementary organization ideas. The process includes creating awareness of importance of biodiversity and a sustainable use of it, as well as the need for economic and technological progress in the beekeeping/grasscutter rearing activity and the different marketing opportunities.
3. Introduction of new type of hives, the Langstroth, that is more efficient, easy to handle and gives higher yields. This includes training of beekeepers and local manufacturers of the hives.
4. Establishment and operation of processing infrastructure functional to new hive type and uniform quality production of honey, owned by the association and/or private stakeholders (including individual beekeepers). The establishment and operation includes construction of infrastructure, acquisition of equipment, hiring employees for operation
5. Train the beneficiaries in the rearing of grasscutter
6. Introduce the cage/pen for housing of grasscutter.
7. Purchasing and transportation of grasscuter stock
8. Elaboration and implementation of a marketing strategy, emphasizing the link between honey production/grasscutter rearing/tourism and biodiversity of Kyabobo National Park. The implementation includes the hiring of a kind of commercial manage(or complementary body, resulting from the strategic planning)