11.11.11 in Jamaica: Beekeeping in St. Thomas

UNDP Jamaica participated in One Day On Earth 2011 by filming one of its initiatives in Poverty Reduction Area: The Beekeping youth group in Llandewey-St. Thomas Parish, Jamaica.

The Beekeeping Group in Llandewey, St. Thomas is one of the Rural Youth Employment (RUYE) project's initiatives. The young bee farmers are in the process of being fully enabled to launch their business in honey production: A challenge totally in line with the objectives pursued by the RUYE project in Rural Jamaica. The group is focused on generating an enterprise specialized in Honey production. The Llandewey group has 40 members, 36 youths and 4 adults. They have all received training in Human Relations and Business Development and were exposed to basic theoretical beekeeping practices in late 2010. The group received 200 beehives and 200 supers, during the month of June and September 2011 and have consequently received further practical training in bee management.

The Rural Youth Employment Project (RUYE) is a 3-year US$1,000,000 initiative being implemented by the Scientific Research Council (SRC) with funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project which officially started in January 2010, will end in December 2012. It specifically targets young persons in the rural parishes of Manchester, Trelawny, St. Ann and St. Thomas aiming to improve the quality of life of disadvantaged youths aged 15-29 in rural Jamaica. The project seeks to strengthen rural youths' capacity to capitalize on income generation opportunities in a sustainable manner through profitable agricultural or agro-processing enterprises.

See more on: www.jm.undp.org/node/334