LocationsBeekeeping opens routes to women’s financial empowerment
Tapping into potential
May 19, 2026
Beekeeping is about a lot more than honey. It's a lifeline for both communities and biodiversity, through the livelihoods that bees support and to the key role they play in pollination, including for food crops.
Beehives are largely made up of female worker bees serving their Queen. But when it comes to humans, the apiculture sector is largely dominated by men. By supporting women in beekeeping, UNDP is helping communities tap into vast reserves of potential to increase women’s financial agency, spur local economic dynamism and make the planet healthier.
The heartbeat of agriculture
Fetu, from Samoa, proudly carries two chiefly titles: “Pauli” from the village of Salelologa, on the island of Savai’i, and “Uitualagialemalietoa” from the village of Maninoa, on the island of Upolu. With these titles comes a deep commitment to leadership.
In recent years, beekeeping has become one of the many ways Fetu is taking on leadership in addressing community challenges. Small Islands and Developing States like Samoa face unique social and economic difficulties, and are particularly vulnerable to biodiversity loss and climate change.
Fetu (left) was introduced to beekeeping through the “Bee Educated!” initiative—a locally led project supported by the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP), implemented by UNDP
Photo: SGP Samoa
“I love how accessible and practical beekeeping is for women and families in rural communities,” Fetu says. “It provides an opportunity for income, nutrition and purpose, especially for those already in agriculture.”
Fetu was introduced to beekeeping through the “Bee Educated!” initiative—a locally led project supported by the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP), implemented by UNDP. Trainees, most of them women, receive mentorship and resources to launch or expand apiculture businesses.
“Women are the heartbeat of agriculture in Samoa, and beekeeping strengthens that even more”, Fetu says. “With climate change, these connections to land and each other have never been more important.”
UNDP beekeeping initiatives aim to strengthen livelihoods and boost local economies while fostering healthy ecosystems.
Photo: SGP Samoa
Little bees, big impact
In San José de Chiquitos, a village in the Chiquitano mountains of Bolivia, women and girls often were the first ones to feel the effects of the deteriorating ecosystem.
Increased livestock farming, deforestation and climate change have affected livelihoods, leading communities to reinvent themselves and seek alternatives. Opportunity arrived on the wings of the so-called abejitas, or “little bees” project. With little experience but great motivation, 25 local women completed technical training in honeybee farming and are now applying these skills to sustainably produce, harvest and sell honey.
The initiative has led the community in San José de Chiquitos to protect 1,593 hectares of forest, home to many species of melliferous flowers, which allow their bees to make honey. It also further established women as key players in the local economy and community decision making. The women of San José de Chiquitos have shown that it is possible to protect forests, boost local economies and transform lives, all at the same time.
In Bolivia, a beekeeping activities sparked an initiative to protect 1,593 hectares of forest, home to many species of melliferous flowers, which provide the raw materials for honey.
Photo: UNDP Bolivia
Taking a chance
“At first, I was scared”, Miola Élie recalls. Starting a completely different job in a male-dominated field wasn’t going to be easy. “But the more I kept going, the more I gained confidence.”
A nurse by profession, Miola was used to doing difficult things. In Haiti, hospitals lack the most basic necessities, like medicine and power, a situation made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and a rise in gang violence.
A former nurse, Miola took a chance switching careers. Today her beekeeping business is thriving, allowing her to provide for her family and contribute to her community.
Photo: UNDP Haiti/Ruvens Boyer
When the opportunity to learn beekeeping presented itself through a UNDP project funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, Miola hesitated. But only briefly. She asked herself: “What if this is my chance? What if I am capable of doing far more than what is expected of me?"
Miola learned how to keep hives, harvest honey, understand bees and their cycles, and sell her honey. Today, she is thriving as a small business owner, providing for her family and contributing to her community.
“I used to think that my only option was accepting my situation,” Miola says. “Now, I know that we women have the power to change our lives. We just need to dare and seize opportunities.”
With funding from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, UNDP is helping women in Haiti learn how to keep beehives, harvest and sell honey.
Photo: UNDP Haiti/Ruvens Boyer
Heritage of honey
Honey is one of Kyrgyzstan's most treasured national products, recognized as among the best in the world. It’s been a constant for Dinara Azarbaeva from Issyk-Kul oblast, a mountainous region in the north-east of the country. Throughout her life, she often kept bees, but only as a hobby. It was her husband who kept hives as a full-time job and ran a business.
Dinara was able to turn her passion for beekeeping into a full-time occupation with support from a UNDP-backed beekeeping initiative. Aiming to bolster women’s entrepreneurship, the project provided Dinara with training, resources and especially mentorship on how to build her own livelihood through apiculture.
With training, resources and mentorship, Dinara turned her hobby into a thriving business.
Photo: UNDP Kyrgyz Republic
With her mentor’s guidance, she mastered new technologies, including breeding bees and producing queen bees for sale. This opened a new line of business and expanded her market beyond her village. “Mentorship helped me see how to turn a hobby into a sustainable business,” she says. “I gained confidence and started working differently.”
While helping perpetuate her country’s rich honey heritage, Dinara’s is challenging traditional views on gender roles, showing the beekeeping is not strictly a masculine profession.
“Now, I’m not just a beekeeper’s wife,” she says. “I am an entrepreneur who knows how to grow further.”