Koster Keunen Helps Local Beekeepers Thrive in Togo

Koster Keunen, with Koster Keunen West Africa (KKWA), is dedicated to backing various producer organizations across Africa. This commitment includes the company’s support for Gassan Gafolai, a beekeeping cooperative in the heart of northern Togo.

Koster Keunen embarked on a project in which the co-op focused the community’s most vulnerable members—widows and orphans. In the project, Koster Keunen provided the community members with more the just tools of the trade (like bee boxes and suits)—the company also quipped them with necessary beekeeping skills.

One initiative, which began in 2021, focused on a group of 10 widows and 15 orphans, who were given 100 and 60 hives respectively. In 2022, the project accelerated with the installation of hives. By February, signs of colonization were apparent; 13% and 28% of the widows’ and orphans’ hives, respectively, were thriving with bee activity. The trend continued positively throughout the year, with colonization rates rising to 65% and 60% by December.

The 2023 harvest season—March to June—marked a period of bustling hive activity. This was not only indicative of ecological heath but also community empowerment, according to Koster Keunen.

You can learn more about this leading wax provider's support for beekeepers here. 

Koster Keunen’s “A Bee Story”