Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Over 300 young people, government representatives, entrepreneurs, key partners and stakeholders in the apiculture and sericulture value chains gathered in Addis Ababa on March 24 for a youth learning summit and to recognise the transformative impact of the More Young Entrepreneurs in Honey and Silk (MOYESH) programme, a partnership between the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) and the Mastercard Foundation.
The youth summit catalyzed insights, milestones and lessons learned from the MOYESH programme under the theme “Harnessing Apiculture, Sericulture, and Allied Value Chains for Youth Employment.” It featured keynote speeches by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Mastercard Foundation and icipe; panels led by young entrepreneurs; discussions on market systems, finance and policy; and an exhibition showcasing innovations in honey and silk value chains.
The event also marked the culmination of the MOYESH programme, which was launched in October 2019 to enable young people in Ethiopia to access dignified and fulfilling jobs in the honey and silk value chains. The five-year programme operated in seven regions, 22 zones and 88 districts. It enabled 245,071 young people, 61.4% of whom are young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work and established 13,063 bee and silk enterprises. In total, 6,043 tonnes of honey, 603 tonnes of beeswax and 89.2 tonnes of silk cocoon were produced, generating over $62.08 million. At an individual level, the estimated average per capita income for participants’ increased from $145 to $344 by the end of the programme.
For young women like Tigist Tesfahun, participation in the program was life-changing:
“Before joining the enterprise, our lives mainly revolved around domestic tasks like cooking, fetching water from long distances, and looking after children and livestock, which had never been economically valued. When we made our first honey harvest in 2021, we felt like a miracle had happened in our lives. In October 2022, our enterprise had harvested and sold 300 kilogrammes of honey, earning ETB 90,000 (USD2,600),” noted Tigist.
Historically, beekeeping in Ethiopia is considered a male occupation, and women are excluded. The programme sought to break down the barriers created by traditional cultural perceptions by adjusting beekeeping technologies through more female-friendly apiary designs that encouraged female beekeepers. It allowed young women to choose the most convenient sites for their apiaries, for instance, in their backyards. Further, childcare facilities have been introduced for nursing mothers during training and group work sessions. This helps the young women participants to dedicate quality time to the training and have peace of mind that their children are cared for close by.
“Before this training, no one invited me to attend training and meetings at Kebele because I have small children to look after at home. Other people usually skip me in such events. Thanks to the MOYESH programme, I am attending training sessions with my kids. I am even grateful for the treats for my child,” said program participant Foze Abdulkadir.
A notable success of the program is the reciprocal relationship created with key stakeholders, including various levels of government, from national to district. One example is the commitment of Ethiopian government agencies to allocate land for beekeeping and sericulture to youth enterprises. Over 7,900 hectares of degraded and vulnerable land were rehabilitated by promoting multipurpose bee forage trees and vegetables. Additionally, the national government is designating selected corridors for apiculture clusters.
The MOYESH programme also embraced the private sector as a key partner in the apiculture transformation in Ethiopia, providing access to inputs such as frame beehives, protective clothes and hive accessories, readily available market outlets, and helping to ensure that quality is maintained throughout the process with the product in mind.
“Today, we are proud to witness the impact of the MOYESH program. As we look ahead, we contemplate on how to scale this impact to reach more young people in Ethiopia and beyond, and how to transform apiculture and sericulture into even stronger engines of inclusive economic growth,” noted Dr Abdou Tenkouano, Director General, icipe.
Building upon the MOYESH programme’s achievements and leveraging its successful models, Mass Youth Employment in Apiculture (MaYEA) was launched in November 2023 in partnership with icipe, International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA), Ethiopia, and the Mastercard Foundation. This five-year scale-up programme is designed to enable about one million young people (80% women) to work in the beekeeping industry and other agricultural value chains while supporting system-level changes to enable dignified and fulfilling work opportunities.
“Through the MOYESH programme, we have collectively achieved much beyond enabling young people to find work opportunities. Beekeeping and sericulture farming have now been recognized as having great potential in rural transformation and as a foreign exchange earner through exporting high-quality products. We believe these value chains have great potential to create opportunities for many more young people in Ethiopia,” said Mefthe Tadesse, Country Director, Ethiopia at the Mastercard Foundation.
About the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe ) The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe ): headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with a country office in Ethiopia, is the only research institution working primarily on insects and other arthropods. The Centre conducts world-class science, and then translates this knowledge into innovate environmentally friendly, affordable, accessible and easy to use solutions to tackle crop pests and disease vectors. icipe’s role also extends to the conservation and sustainable exploitation of the beneficial insect biodiversity. For more information on icipe, please visit https://www.icipe.org/
About the Mastercard FoundationThe Mastercard Foundation is a registered Canadian charity and one of the largest foundations in the world. It works with visionary organizations to advance education and financial inclusion to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. Established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company, the Foundation is an independent organization separate from the company, with offices in Toronto, Kigali, Accra, Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Dakar, and Addis Ababa. Its policies, operations, and program decisions are determined by the Foundation’s Board of Directors and leadership. For more information on the Foundation, please visit http://www.mastercardfdn.org/
The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe )Name: Workneh Ayalew, MOYESH Programme CoordinatorPhone: +252 922828889Email: WAYALEW@ICIPE.ORG .
Mastercard FoundationName: Simret YasabuEmail: syasabu@mastrcardfdn.org
