Hives provide new source of income for students, school.
NEW ROCHELLE, NY (Aug 12, 2025) Salesian missionaries in Kunkundjan Mariama, a small locality in Banjul, The Gambia, were able to increase their beekeeping activities thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The Don Bosco Garden at the school now has an additional 30 hives, which brings the total number of hives up to 50. Salesians also trained 33 students how to care for the hives and extract honey.
The hives provide the school and the students a new opportunity for a source of income. The honey from the hives is collected and sold to those in the local community. A Salesian noted, “The additional hives serve as an additional revenue source and small income-generating opportunity, allowing the population to meet their needs.”
One of the participants, Edouard, noted, “I appreciated the training and hope to become a leader in beekeeping training. I’m going to take all that I’ve learned and train other students here at the school in how to tend to the hives and extract the honey.”
The World Bank has noted that with increasing labor incomes and decreasing inflationary pressure the extreme poverty rate dropped to 15.5% in 2024 in The Gambia. There remain struggles in the labor market leading to accelerating migration, including low labor-force participation, especially among young adults and women, few high-productivity job opportunities, and a widespread informal labor market.
The World Bank has further noted that while The Gambia made progress toward better living standards, large disparities remain. Access to water, electricity and other services rose for those of a middle income bracket while the poorest saw no improvements. Access to electricity and water remained below 20%.
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About Salesian Missions USA
Salesian Missions is headquartered in New Rochelle, NY, and is part of the Don Bosco Network—a worldwide federation of Salesian NGOs. The mission of the U.S.-based nonprofit Catholic organization is to raise funds for international programs that serve youth and families in poor communities around the globe. The Salesian missionaries are made up of priests, brothers and sisters, as well as laypeople—all dedicated to caring for poor children throughout the world in more than 130 countries and helping young people become self-sufficient by learning a trade that will help them gain employment. To date, more than 3 million youth have received services funded by Salesian Missions. These services and programs are provided to children regardless of race or religion. For more information, go to SalesianMissions.org.