LocationsMelifa Matilda Mhone – Turning Honey into Household Dignity in Eswazini, Mzimba
September 5, 2025
Melifa Matilda Mhone says her story is about women reclaiming their power in agriculture, proving that skills and opportunity can unlock potential that once lay hidden.
In Eswazini, Mzimba, the forest hums with bees, their relentless work carrying the promise of change. For Melifa Matilda Mhone, a mother and beekeeper in Kapirinkhunga in Inkosi Chindi's area, the story of honey is not merely about sweetness — it embodies dignity, resilience, and transformation.
For years, Melifa cared for her hives with little reward. Pests attacked them, rains washed away her hopes, and her harvest was so inconsistent that honey sales generated too little to improve her household’s fortunes.
Everything changed when the Empowering Women and Youth in Agriculture in Malawi (EWAYA) project, funded by the Government of Flanders and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), reached her community.
The project provided modern beehives, training, and techniques to keep hives healthy and productive. She learned how to apply grease to keep out pests, maintain cleanliness, and monitor her hives regularly.
“Before this project started, we initially had 20 beehives, but whenever bees entered them, they would leave again. From the eWAYA project, we learnt that a person should visit the beehives in the forest weekly and report their observations. We also learned that if a mouse or frogs enter, we need to know about it,” she recalls.
The results were remarkable.
“I managed to harvest 17 kg of honey in my first season after training, and 35kg in the next,” she says with a smile.
With the income, Melifa did something she had dreamt of since 2001. She bought a sofa set.
“On my own, when eWAYA came, I got two beehives and harvested 17 kilogrammes of honey and sold it, and the money I made I kept in a village savings account. The money amounted to MWK700,000. So, I went to Mzimba to find sofa sets. Now I have a sofa set in my house,” she says, her voice filled with pride.
For Melifa, the sofa was not just furniture. It was dignity restored.
“Now when visitors come, they sit on chairs, and my heart is at peace,” she says softly.
More Than Honey: A New Way of Living
With earnings from honey, Melifa fulfilled a dream she had carried since 2001 — buying her first sofa set.
The advantages of the project extended well beyond her living room. The trees planted around the beehives helped restore water sources and strengthened her community’s environment. Clean, well-packaged honey now sells for higher prices, far above what she previously earned.
Her household is healthier too, nourished by honey that no longer carries the risks of poor handling. And with the savings culture instilled through village savings and loans, she is building security for the future.
“The project has changed us, we keep planting trees which have helped to have more water in our rivers, hence improving our livelihoods. Trees also help us to improve our health, hence we do not get sick from time to time from the honey!”
Inspiring Other Women
Melifa knows her story is not just about her family. It is about women reclaiming their power in agriculture, proving that skills and opportunity can unlock potential that once lay hidden.
For her, the training is more than a project — it is knowledge for life.
“The knowledge I have gained will stay with me forever. Even after the project, I will continue keeping bees and teaching others,” she says.
A Global Lesson in Local Change
From empty hives to a living room filled with the dignity of new furniture, Melifa’s journey illustrates the quiet strength of properly executed development. With the right tools, women in rural Malawi are not just producing honey — they are restoring dignity to their households, strengthening resilience within their communities, and laying the groundwork for sustainable futures.
What started with bees in Eswazini now serves as a lesson for the world: invest in women, provide them with skills and tools, and the change will spread well beyond the hive.
About EWAYA:
The Empowering Women and Youth in Agriculture in Malawi project is funded by the Government of Flanders and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). It aims to enhance women’s and youth’s participation in high-value agricultural value chains through skills training, access to quality inputs, market linkages, and climate-smart agriculture practices. In Eswazini, Mzimba, the focus is on common beans and honey production, empowering farmers to move from subsistence farming to sustainable agribusiness.