AGRICULTURAL manager for ABF Beef and Blade Farming has returned after building beehives in a Tanzanian forest.

Viv Harris from Chepstow travelled to the country on Sunday 31st May to support Farm Africa, a charity working to end hunger in eastern Africa.

Viv went with eight other senior women business leaders from the UK food industry to take part in Farm Africa's Big Beehive Build and improve the lives of female farmers in this remote area.

The group landed close to Mount Kilimanjaro, one of Africa's prime tourist destinations. The ladies then travelled along dusty rural roads to the Nou Forest, an area literally off the beaten track, where they had a particular mission – to construct 90 beehives in just three days. The hives will now be used to kick-start profitable and sustainable honey farming businesses for the Erri beekeeping group.

The 300 square km Nou Forest is situated at 2,300 metres above sea level and is noted for its biodiversity of plant, animal and insect life. But Tanzania is losing forests at a disastrous rate of 300,000 hectares every year - around 1,500 football fields every day. As forest loss reduces water supply for local communities, they struggle to grow enough food to eat and turn to cutting down trees for income to survive – a vicious circle destroying the very resource they need to survive for the long-term.

The forest is home to millions of bees, and bee-keeping is a forest-friendly business that enables communities to make money without cutting down more trees.

But for women the traditional-style beehives, situated high in the trees, are inaccessible as it's not culturally acceptable to climb trees. That's why Farm Africa has introduced the Langstroth beehive, a type of hive that can be placed on the ground and used by women. Harvesting the precious honey will bring the women a new and valuable source of income that will enable them to pay for clothes, medicines and school fees for their children.

The first step was to construct the hives – and that's where Viv and her companions came in. They received training from Farm Africa and had a model to follow but even so, it was to be a new experience, far from the business meetings and email exchanges that constitute their normal working day. They had just three days to build and paint the 90 hives, to exacting standards.

As if that wasn't challenging enough, the team also had to reach a £50,000 fundraising target, funds that will be used by Farm Africa to help more rural families in eastern Africa build a more prosperous life that allows them to take charge of their futures.

Viv is delighted that the Big Beehive Build supports women farmers in Tanzania. She said: "I see parallels with my own working life. There are female farmers in the UK, but the majority are male and farms tend to be male dominated.

"In the meat industry there are also many men.

"Women need strength and skills. Tanzanian women need to be fit and active. And like women here, they have to juggle children, homes, business and farming."

The Big Beehive Build is one of the events organised this year as part of Farm Africa's  wider 'Food For Good' campaign, the UK food and hospitality industry's response to the global challenge of hunger.