Project summary

A client approached us for help to verify a project with long-term impact that he could support through his CAF Charitable Trust. Now, fifty women in rural Burkina Faso are paving the way for future generations of female beekeepers in their community.

• In 2018, Trevor Dickety approached CAF to review a funding proposal received from Shared Interest Foundation outlining the Bees for Business initiative.
• Trevor decided to use funds within his CAF Charitable Trust to fund a year-long project with the Shared Interest Foundation to break the cycle of poverty through the creation of a resilient beekeeping businesses
• See the latest updates on the impact of the project

Trevor’s ambitions for his philanthropy

Trevor originally opened his Charitable Trust as an efficient and convenient way to give. Starting originally with lower value grants to varied organisations to demonstrate his support of the work they do.

Trevor originally became interested in how bees could encourage people to empower themselves financially through the insects’ desire to make honey, when he heard a weekly BBC Radio 4 Charity Appeal for a development bee charity in Wales in December 2016. He had had a Shared Interest Society investment account since 1992 and on his retirement went to the Fairtrade Foundation, Traidcraft Exchange and Shared Interest Foundation with the offer of a significant donation.

After speaking with the Shared Interest Foundation and reviewing their proposal for the project, Trevor approached the CAF Private Client team to use our verification services to review the proposal; Trevor decided to commit a grant of £30,000 using his Charitable Trust, and an additional £20,000 from other sources (including £4,000 in gift aid).

Trevor said: “I think this project really ticked all the boxes because beekeeping is really low cost but can make a huge difference in people’s lives.

“The best thing about it is that the beehives will last 15 – 20 years so I’m hoping that even once the funded project ends, the women will be able to transfer the knowledge to other villages.”

The impact of the grant

The funding has helped to transform traditional beekeeping methods by equipping each of the women with five modern beehives, as well as training on how to sustain their bee population to sell honey to the local market or to larger buyers.

The donation has also been used to plant 1,000 Moringa trees, which are helping to increase local biodiversity, attract bees, and provide shade so that crops can be grown underneath them.

The trees, which are drought-resistant, are also providing the women with an additional income source as their nutritionally rich leaves can be dried and sold on the local market.

Fatoumata Ouattara, 34, one of the beekeepers, said: “Before this project I was not positive about the future and the biggest challenge I faced was securing a future for my children. Now I have this opportunity to earn an income I will be able to pay for the health and schooling expenses for my children and provide them with three meals per day so they can concentrate better in their class.”