Quest for economic development in agrarian localities: lessons from West Nile, Uganda

This paper describes and analyzes the operational strategy of West Nile region, a typical low local capability community, in pursuit of local economic development. Special emphasis has been placed on the development of groups of survival beekeeping-enterprises and their integration in the local economy. The region provides an interesting example of what public-private partnerships can offer for local economic development. Secondly, it is an attempt to document, in a coherent manner, the activities and contributions of the key actors in the honey and beeswax value chain, including support from complementary institutions. Finally, it conceptualizes and theorizes the practice of beekeeping, honey extraction, processing and marketing in West Nile. Possible lessons that can be learnt from the experience are also identified and discussed.