Journal article
Where are all the queen bees? A scoping review of gender in beekeeping for development
Journal of apicultural research, Vol.First online, pp.1-14
07/06/2026
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Abstract
Beekeeping can contribute to the sustainable alleviation of poverty in rural communities. While beekeeping has been widely promoted as a mechanism for the socio-economic empowerment of women, there is a lack of empirical research providing evidence to support approaches that improve women's agency and well-being, as well as address the structural barriers that impede women's empowerment. This scoping review evaluates research on gender in beekeeping development. Forty studies involving 803 female participants from 17 countries were analysed. Gender-based research, or research focusing on gender beyond the number of women participants, represented just 25% of the literature, with most studies having no gender data disaggregation beyond the number of participants. The only studies that mentioned relationships, women's confidence, or well-being as a measure of women's outcomes were articles that explicitly focused on gender. This finding highlights a significant gap in beekeeping research and underscores the need to explore how beekeeping programs can be effectively positioned to impact multiple domains of women's lives. This research also revealed substantial differences in women's roles in beekeeping based on geographical location and cultural and social context. The research found that numerous barriers to women's inclusion in beekeeping development are influenced by broader social and cultural constructs of gender in society, as well as the persistent inequalities that affect women's autonomy and voice. This study offers considerations for enhancing the outcomes and impacts of research and development in beekeeping/agricultural development programs.
Details
- Title
- Where are all the queen bees? A scoping review of gender in beekeeping for development
- Creators
- Anneliese Austin - Southern Cross UniversityCooper Nat Schouten - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- Journal of apicultural research, Vol.First online, pp.1-14
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Number of pages
- 14
- Grant note
- This work was supported by the Australian Centre forInternational Agricultural Research (ACIAR) under grant LS/2014/42, Increasing the productivity and profitability ofsmallholder beekeeping enterprises in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the Solomon Islands and AGB-2022-113 Evaluatingan alternative approach to sector development in PacificIsland countries.
- Identifiers
- 991013386144302368
- Copyright
- © 2026 The Author(s).
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article