We’re about 6 months into a beekeeping project with several members of the Orangé community near Jacmel. We’ve been working with a group of farmers from the “K-PAB” co-op to get them the supplies and training they need to become beekeepers. Not only will this provide vital income for their families with honey harvests, it will also provide pollinators to support healthy crops for the whole community.

CCH Community Development staff, Junior St Louis and Nazaire Leveillé, have been working with K-PAB for a few years now. They’ve worked on a variety of projects together, including goat farming, leadership development, and mediation skills. Last year they realized that beekeeping would be a great fit to boost livelihoods in this community. Over the past several months, they’ve worked with a small group of farmers to equip them. With the help of a Sol Paraison (a professional agronomist in Haiti) and Wood Parker (an American beekeeper and CCH volunteer) they’ve led several trainings for the farmers in how to set up and maintain beehives. CCH has also helped the farmers purchase the necessary equipment.

Last week we achieved the exciting milestone of transporting and installing bees in the new hives. CCH will continue to walk beside the Orangé community and K-PAB co-op as they grow their beekeeping businesses.