Productivity, Unity, Community: Making a Living and a Good Life

The season of giving and sharing reminds us to consider our impact on our world and to ask, “Can we really make a sustainable difference?” In our recent experience, the answer is an uplifting, “Yes.” In Togo, West Africa, Koster Keunen is a supporter of the Gassana Gafolai beekeeping cooperative, which provides beehives, along with the means and education to manage the hives.

The Gassana Gafolai cooperative was formed specifically to assist widows and orphans, who have little access to economic resources and opportunities. Getting help taking the crucial first step to economic participation and independence can make all the difference. Koster Keunen brings to the table more than a century of knowledge and research into beekeeping worldwide, and we are able to assist the members of the cooperative to realize success with their hives, and to adapt to changes in order to continue to thrive. The ability to provide for self and family is a basic human need. Doing so sustainably is the basis for hope for the future.

Hives are not just an apt metaphor for the benefits of working in concert with one’s community. Beekeeping acts as something of a “success multiplier.” Well-kept beehives produce quality wax, honey, and future hive populations. The beekeepers and their communities benefit from the sale of both products and from the benefits of having bees to pollenate crops. In Gassana Gafolai, individuals whose circumstances are already difficult have a chance to move forward by working together, and we are gratified to be part of creating opportunity for them.

When an enterprise meets UN Sustainable Development Goals from beginning to end, you know that the end product is contributing to a world we all want to live in. From empowering women and girls through sustainable production and creating robust markets for their goods, the Gassana Gafolai hives act as a vector for change and healthy economic growth. Few industries can boast that their side effects are specifically beneficial to the surrounding ecology. Hives create measurable increases in food production where bees are kept, which offers potential economic and health benefits for the beekeepers’ communities and benefits for local biodiversity.

We are pleased to step into another year sharing the journey with you and all of our customers. Koster Keunen would like to extend our thanks to you for partnering with us to source sustainably.