Diversified beekeeping products

The Twah River Beekeepers Association (TRIBA) has been supported by the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) since 2024 to increase and diversify products from beekeeping. In this time, its membership has grown from 22 to 316, as farmers saw the benefits of membership.

This increase in membership has not been without its challenges, however. With higher harvests of honey, for example, beekeepers in TRIBA began to experience difficulties such as storing the honey and expanding their businesses beyond the small market of Nimba county.

Forest and Farm Facility activities

The Association of Beekeepers in Liberia (ABEL), with support from FFF, carried out an assessment to understand the current challenges that TRIBA members were experiencing. This revealed issues in packaging honey, the disposal of wax and propolis gathered from harvest, building a customer base and selling in a highly competitive market.

Based on these findings, through the FFF programme ABEL conducted three trainings for TRIBA members on product development and value-addition (52 participants), packaging and labelling (7 participants) and marketing (4 participants). The trainings taught local beekeepers about the downside of not considering beeswax management as a valuable resource. They also emphasised the need for innovation in the beekeeping community through product branding, packaging and the development of value-added products.

Beekeepers in TRIBA were trained to develop products such as creams, polish, lip balms and soap from beeswax, and taught to make a health tincture from propolis. TRIBA members were also encouraged to transition from using used gallon buckets to sell and store their honey to using new and presentable jars accompanied by brand labels and seals. Now, TRIBA’s products can easily be sold in different counties at different stores and supermarkets, and even to international customers.

Significance of impact

With FFF support, TRIBA has successfully launched three value-added honey products:

• Infused herbal honey: blending traditional medicinal herbs with raw honey for wellbeing-conscious consumers. Targeted planting of medicinal trees for bees to forage on is also being encouraged
• Beeswax balm: a natural skin salve made from beeswax, coconut oil and indigenous botanicals
• Honey-drizzled snacks: locally sourced roasted nuts and grains coated in lightly spiced honey glaze, mostly using peanuts and cashew nuts

The impacts have included considerably more beekeepers participating in commercialisation. There has been rapidly expanding job creation for women and youth, and income from these products is now substantially higher than when they previously marketed honey.  Replication is also happening, with improved scalability in neighbouring communities. Meanwhile, TRIBA members continue to sell their naturally pure organic honey, which is their most popular product and is now reaching an ever-increasing market.

Conclusion

FFF support to TRIBA for market development through ABEL has had substantial positive impacts on local beekeepers, as indicated by the rapid increase in membership. Additionally, farmers have transitioned from being trainees to independent entrepreneurs, developing products and market linkages.

With the support provided through FFF, TRIBA members have established their own apiaries, developed various brands for their honey, and begun selling directly to local markets and cooperatives.

Further reading

Honey production elevates women’s status in Liberia, Forest and Farm Facility (2025)

FAO supports Twah River Beekeepers Association in Nimba county through ABEL, FAO (2025)