In the Ugandan town of Tororo, Blathnaid Healy speaks to a woman who, without anyone knowing it, is the most successful beekeeper there.
An accident left Rita Okecho unable to do the manual labour she needed to carry out on her farm, leading her to turn to beekeeping to make a living.
On a hot October afternoon at the Tororo Women’s Bee Keeping Association, Rita told the women from the group that keeping bees had made her the person she is today.
Dressed in a blue-and-white patterned skirt, maroon shirt and a grey scarf, she revealed to them that she has 40 bee hives and one day hopes to expand that to 100.
Rita is the most successful of all the beekeepers in the association.
However, most people did not know that she had so many hives, that she was producing so much honey, or that she was doing so well.
Rita said she has never taken any loans but instead she has re-invested money back into her beekeeping since she began back in the 1980s. Initially, she started keeping bees in boxes made by people locally.
She finds that on average she can get 8kg of unprocessed honey from each of her hives.
Instead of bringing the honey back to the association's central processing unit, Rita sells her honey direct to neighbours.
She said people stop by where she lives every day when she has stock to buy.
As well as re-investing in more hives, Rita told the group the money she has made has helped her to send her children to school and to buy iron sheets for a roof.
The farmers near to where Rita lives tell her they have seen an increase in their crop yield and interest in beekeeping has gathered pace among her neighbours.
The mother-of-five said enthusiastically she is ready to have more interaction with the women in the association and she wants now to become a role model for the others in the group.
Bóthar’s Overseas Director Dr Bernard Muyeya, impressed by what Rita said to the women and the large amount of bee hives she keeps, said he hopes Rita will become part of the Tororo Beekeeping Association’s committee.
'The Humble Bee' is brought to you in part by the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund
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