Eden Roots PTY LTD, an agribusiness with several business functions including Beefarming. I started off farming indigenous plants and herbs. My interest was particularly in those used for healing by our foremothers. I then discovered bees in an old borehole while busy with my herbs. This intrigued me to learn more about them. That is when I learnt of the importance of bees in pollination. I realised that bees facilitate the integral part of all agricultural systems even though their importance is hardly ever acknowledged. When most people think of bees they only think about their painful stings!
At the heart of Eden Roots, is biodiversity because all life on earth depends on it and we love bees because they make all life possible. In 2019 bees were declared the most important species on earth. Our bees have increased the yield of farmers who have given us space to establish apiaries in their farms. When these farmers harvest more, it means a lot more people can be fed and the world currently has a big problem of food security to solve. Our bees have also enabled us to employ many women and girls who also learn beekeeping skills from us. By giving them work and skills, we empower them to be financially stable so that they cannot be prone to gender based violence. This also helps to improve the economy of rural villages where our apiaries are located.
One of the barriers to entry into beekeeping is the high cost of beehives and Eden Roots has taken it upon itself to resolve this problem by promoting the use of indigenous beekeeping methods that were used by our foremothers. They kept bees and their systems worked perfectly. Our partnership with University of North West crop science unit enables us to investigate indigenous knowledge systems and also to conduct scientific research on everything that has to do with beefarming and our biodiversity. We also get to share our beekeeping skills with their students.
We package the honey from our hives and sell it. We also use all the by-products of honey to make personal care products for hair & skin and also candles and furniture polish. We have absolutely no waste! We have recently introduced a circular economy initiative where our customers collect and return honey jars to us for an incentive. This assists to reduce the pressure on dumping sites and to make a positive contribution towards saving our environment.
Each time I hear the buzzing sound of bees, I smile knowing that they are working hard towards our much needed biodiversity. Our country South Africa is ranked the top third most biodiverse country in the world and is recognised for having a high level of endism. It is home to more than 95000 known native species. With growing populations and high demand for agricultural land for food and human settlement, our bee population and biodiversity are threatened. This calls for government policies that meet the pressures of a growing population and also protect the honeybees.
