Impact of apiculture on livelihoods and conservation of Nyando wetlands

Abstract

Apiculture is bee keeping for the purpose of honey, wax and propolis production. In Kenya bee keeping hasn’t been fully exploited as an alternative livelihood activity in wetlands conservation. Due to climate change and increasing population in Nyando area, pressure is exerted on the wetlands leading to its degradation which causes serious flooding during that adversely affects the communities living there. Agriculture is one of the biggest threats to the wetland conservation in the Nyando catchment. There is a great need to conserve the wetlands due to their importance to the ecosystem. The study will assess the impact of apiculture on the livelihoods and conservation of the Nyando wetland. The objectives are to: establish the adoption rate and community perspective on apiculture, verify the contribution of apiculture to household income as a source of livelihood in the area, and identify the challenges and opportunities for apiculture promotion and to describe the contribution of apiculture on wetland conservation. Data will be obtained using a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS.