Bees Abroad has shared some genuinely heartening news from its recent Big Give campaign, and it deserves a proper spotlight on the Borders Beekeepers website. In the space of one week, supporters helped raise a total of £50,523 to support beekeeping training and community development in Nigeria.
A week that changed a project
The appeal combined £25,262 donated by supporters with £25,261 in matched funding through the Big Give, nudging the total neatly over the £50,000 mark. What began as an ambitious target has ended as a fully funded programme, thanks to many individual gifts and a particularly generous donation in the final hours.
Bees Abroad describes the campaign as anything but a smooth, predictable climb: progress in the middle of the week looked uncertain, but the response towards the end showed what can happen when people rally behind a shared goal. The result is not just a tidy number on a fundraising page, but a fully‑resourced plan that can now move ahead on the ground in Nigeria.
Training 300 new beekeepers
The funds will enable 300 smallholder farmers across North and South Nigeria to receive comprehensive beekeeping training. Alongside practical skills, new beekeepers will receive protective clothing, basic equipment, and support to get started so they can turn bees and hive products into a reliable, long‑term source of income.
A further 20 young men and women will be trained as future trainers, so that knowledge does not stop with the first cohort but spreads to many more people and harder‑to‑reach communities. This focus on building local capacity means the impact of the project should continue to grow well beyond the initial group of trainees.
More than honey
Bees Abroad is clear that this initiative is about far more than increasing honey yields. By giving smallholder farmers an additional, sustainable income stream, the project aims to strengthen household resilience, help families cope better with economic and climate shocks, and keep children in school.
Beekeeping also brings wider environmental benefits, as increased pollination can support local crops and biodiversity, while training encourages low‑input, environmentally sensitive farming practices. In rural areas where opportunities are limited, seeing a viable future in small‑scale agriculture and beekeeping can give young people a reason to stay and invest in their own communities.
What to watch for next
With the fundraising target met, the focus now shifts to delivery. Intensive training camps are planned in both the north and south of Nigeria, followed by ongoing mentoring as new beekeepers establish and grow their enterprises.
Bees Abroad plans to share photos, videos, progress updates, and individual stories from the field as the work unfolds, so supporters can see the practical results of the campaign. For Borders Beekeepers members, it is a striking example of how beekeeping knowledge and modest donations, when combined, can help transform livelihoods many miles beyond our own apiaries.
(To read the full PDF article on this, go to: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17MynXL2yB6ttetrvzuD4cVIZzVTHruOD/view?usp=sharing)