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Our Vision
Our vision is of an ethical, equitable, inclusive and progressive society in which people live with
dignity and have power over their own lives.

Our Mission
Our mission is to enable and empower communities to be independent by facilitating equitable
access to opportunities, through working on programs that lie within our three core programmatic
areas: i.e. Economic Development, Human Capital Development and Social Protection.

Our Values
Hashoo Foundation draws on the values of equity, inclusivity, transparency, innovation, integrity,
respect and fulfillment.

About Us
Hashoo Foundations mission is to enable and empower communities to be independent by
facilitating equitable access to opportunities through our three core programmatic areas: Economic
Development, Human Capital Development and Social Protection.

Hashoo Foundation USA works locally to raise awareness, promote intercultural relations and
understanding, as it builds partnerships with other non-profit and professional organizations,
private sector and concerned individuals to promote the Foundations programs and increase its
fundraising capacity to help support the Hashoo Foundations economic development, education,
skills development and humanitarian assistance programs in Pakistan.
Hashoo Foundation USA is a non-profit organization under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) code EIN 20-0748173 and is registered with the following registration
authorities:
- Trust Act 1882 vide Registration No 661 Sub-Registrar T-Div II Karachi dated 16/07/1988
- Exempted from Taxes with approval by CBR under SRO 169(1)/2005 notified/published in
Gazette of Pakistan dated 15/02/2005 under clause (3) of clause (58)
- Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy 2011 registration
- Charities Commission in the UK

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Contents
Acronyms .................................................................................................................................................... 3
1- Project Summary ................................................................................................................................. 4
2- Project Goal ......................................................................................................................................... 5
3- Background ......................................................................................................................................... 5
4- Objectives ............................................................................................................................................ 5
5- Project Activities Undertaken ............................................................................................................. 7
5.1

Community Mobilization ............................................................................................................ 7

5.2

Selection of the Trainees ............................................................................................................ 7

5.3

Selection of the Master Trainers ................................................................................................ 8

5.3

Development of Training Schedule ............................................................................................ 8

5.4

Post-training Evaluation .............................................................................................................. 8

5.5

Monitoring Visits to the Project ................................................................................................. 9

5.6

Distribution of Certificates, Beehives and Production Kits ...................................................... 10

5.7

Formation of the Cluster Based Association ............................................................................ 13

5.8

Value Chain Development (VCD) Training ................................................................................ 13

5.9

Branding and Marketing of the Honey ..................................................................................... 14

5.10

Packaging of Honey ................................................................................................................... 15

6- Output and Achievements of the Project ......................................................................................... 15

7- Linkages Building and Visibility ........................................................................................................ 15
8- Risks/ Challenges and Assumptions ................................................................................................. 15
9- Lessons Learnt ................................................................................................................................... 16
10- Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 16
Annex A Training Schedule ....................................................................................................................... 17
Annexure B Budget Summary ................................................................................................................... 19
Annexure C Profile of the Trainees ........................................................................................................... 20
Annexure D Beneficiaries Profile Template ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Annexure D pictures ................................................................................................................................. 24

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Acronyms

BTLSO

Best Town Local Support Organization

CBO

Community Based Organization

CWF

Chapelwood Foundation

EDP

Enterprise Development Program

GB

Gilgit- Baltistan

HF

Hashoo Foundation

HBG

Honey Business Group

IP

Implementing Partner

LSO

Local Support Organization

NGO

Non-Governmental Organization

PB

Plan Bee

VCD

Value Chain Development

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1-

Project Summary

Project Title

Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming

Plan Bee Project

Implementing Partner

Hashoo Foundation

Funded by

Chapelwood Foundation

Area of Implementation

GhakuchBalla, District Ghizer (Gilgit-Baltistan)

Number of Direct Beneficiaries

Twenty (20) women

Number of Indirect Beneficiaries

One hundred & twenty one (121) family members

Number of Children in School

Sixty-seven (67)

Number of Beehives and Production Kits Sixty (60) beehives & twenty (20) production kits
Distributed
distributed
st
Honey Produced in 1 year
285 kg (627 lb)
Income Earned in 1st Year

PKR. 285,000 (US $2,850)

Name of Business Group

Shaheen Women Honey Business Group

Name of Honey Brand

Shaheen Pure Honey

Project Director

Muhammad Sadiq, HF-Pakistan

sadiqalwani@hashoofoundation.org

Technical Support

Cristal Montaz Baylor, Executive Director, HF-USA

cristalmontanez@hashoofoundationusa.org

Project Manager

Kamal Uddin, HF-Pakistan

kamal@hashoofoundation.org

Implementing Team
Project Budget

BJ Shams and Garee Khan, HF-Pakistan Gilgit Office

bjshams@hashoofoundation.org
US $9,000

Project Period

One year (January 2014- December 2014)

Country

Pakistan

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2-

Project Goal

The overall goal of the project was to increase the income of twenty (20) underprivileged
women by building their capacity as honey bee farmers, and distributing sixty (60) beehives
with twenty (20) production kits among them.

3-

Background

Hashoo Foundation (HF) with the financial support of the Chapelwood Foundation (CWF), has
built the capacity of underprivileged women in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) in honey bee farming for
the last four years. CWF is playing an important role in helping alleviate poverty in GB. In 2013,
CWF awarded a 4th grant for $9,000 to HF to train twenty (20) women from GahkuchBalla, in
District Ghizer, in beekeeping skills. Upon completion of the training, sixty (60) beehives and
twenty (20) production kits were distributed amongst the new trainees. The trainees extended
their gratitude to the CWF for the generous contribution to help improve the living standard of
women in the remote areas of GB and recognize the efforts of HF for arranging the trainings.
Honey bee farming is a unique area where HF has strong capacity. HF facilitates the training,
Value Chain Development (VCD), organization of business groups, distribution of beehives and
production kits and links their trainees with the market, providing them with innovative
branding and marketing strategies.
The project is one of its kind and contributes to the HFs overall economic development
strategy in the target area. It has helped women become self-sustained and independent. The
Mountain Honey brand, produced by the Plan Bee beneficiaries, is now being supplied to
Serena, Marriott, and Pearl-Continental Hotels, and to a range of domestic supermarkets across
Pakistan.

4-

Objectives

The project aims to empower poor women through the replication of CWFs successful
enterprise models, consecutively functional for last three years (2010 - 2013) in the remote
areas of GB, with three pronged objectives;

1. Organize, mobilize and train 20 rural women beneficiaries in bee farming.

2. Provide equipment and technical assistance required for bee farming, ensuring
economy of scale, facilitating beehives management, processing, quality assurance,
storage and transportation.
3. Facilitate market linkages in lucrative markets of big cities of Pakistan as well as
overseas, if possible, to maximize profit which will have multi-dimensional socio-
economic impact in the targeted areas.

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5-

Project Activities Undertaken

5.1

Community Mobilization

HFs regional team initiated a dialogue with the target community in collaboration with the Best
Town Local Support Organization (BTLSO) in Gahkuch, Ghizer. The communities expressed a
keen desire for the beekeeping training. HF engaged BTLSO and delegated the responsibility to
mobilize and identify the deserving women.

5.2

Selection of the Trainees

HF field team in collaboration with the BTLSO followed predefined selection criteria to reach
out to the most vulnerable families, with the priority given to orphans, disabled, widows and
other potential beneficiaries.
HF and BTLSO identified targeted women trainees through a participatory selection process. A
meeting was held with Women Organizations and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in
the village. The participants were briefed about the importance of micro enterprise
development and honey bee farming. They were informed that beekeeping was an income
generating activity with an incubation period of five months, which could be undertaken at
cottage level; as it did not require heavy investments or infrastructure. The participants were
also informed that congenial climatic conditions and availability of bee flora in Ghizer District
was an excellent opportunities for beekeeping. The participants highlighted the need of onsite
appropriate training with equipment.

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After the initial meeting, analysis of the baseline survey and recommendations of community
leaders and BTLSO, twenty (20) trainees were identified on the following selection criteria:
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The trainees should be women from vulnerable families.

Should have the potential to build a small entrepreneur.
The selected person should have an interest in honey beekeeping.
Be able to play a positive role in linkage development between institutions and
communities.

5.3

Selection of the Master Trainers

For the past 5-6 years, HF has been producing

highly skilled women Master Trainers of honey
beekeeping. HF is now providing opportunity to
local Master Trainers to impart their skills, hiring
them to train and demonstrate practical and
theoretical work to new trainees. Ms. Jamila Bano
and Ms. Zohra Ara, Master Trainers were hired for
this project.

5.3

Ms. Zohra Ara Master Trainer

Ms. Jamila Bano Master Trainer

Development of Training Schedule

A consensus was built for implementation of the project and the training schedule was finalized with the
participation of the selected trainees and their communities. Based on mutual consensus the training on
honey bee farming was scheduled from May 05 to May 11, 2014, and the training on value chain
development was schedule from July 05 to July 07, 2014. Both trainings were conducted as per planned
schedule. The topics covered as per planned training schedule are included in Annexure A.

5.4

Post-training Evaluation

Post-training evaluation was conducted to assess the learning level of the trainees and to seek
their feedback on overall training environment. Following questions were asked in this regard;

How much did you learn from this training?

Did you easily understand the training language?
Were you satisfied from the presentation skills of the trainer?
How was the practical work and to what extent you found it interesting?
Was the training duration sufficient?
How was the overall training environment and arrangement?

Beekeepers stated that, first time ever in their life; they had exposure to the bees and
witnessed honey production. Earlier, some of the trainees were of the view that honey is the
feces of bees and admitted their limited information about the bees. During the training, they
came to know about the whole process of honey production and uses of honey for different
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purposes. Moreover they added that, they also learnt about division of Labor among bees. For
them, it was very fascinating to know about how bees work in a group. The role of queen,
guards and workers are predefined and everyone is doing their jobs so well. Furthermore, they
learnt, how to run business in a group and benefits of group business.
They also stated that, they learnt new skills and started an activity, which is allowing them to do
something different from their daily mundane activities, which enabled them to earn. Other
than an economic activity, the project also brought an opportunity to meet trainees with new
people. One of the trainees stated that, for us this is unique opportunity to meet new people
and we are excited to visit other villages along with the beehives. We have never been to other
places. The trainees showed their satisfaction to overall practical work, they had in the field.
For them, it was easy to learn since the trainer was speaking in their native language.
The overall feedback was very positive and trainees were very happy from the given
opportunity and were more excited to travel to other places in group in-order to extract honey
in the field. They were feeling more confident since they will also contribute to their household
income.

5.5

Monitoring Visits to the Project

Monitoring is the key mechanism to gauge the projects success and to take the prerequisite
measures, if progress does not meet expectations. HF enterprise development team visited the
project area on July 22, 2013, to meet the trainees and held a day-long session to discuss the
progress and challenges of the project. Local stakeholders and members of the BTLSO were also
in the meeting session. They shared some productive ideas for improvements, and particularly
they were cognizant about the shifting of beehives during the winter and rainy season. BTLSO
ensured the beekeepers of their support in shifting beehives to down the country.

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5.6

Distribution of Certificates, Beehives and Production Kits

Closing ceremony of the training was held in GhakuchBalla in District Ghizer, with the
participation of Mr. Bj Shams HF GB Office and Mr. Kamal Uddin Program Manager Enterprise
Development HF.

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5.7

Formation of the Cluster Based Association

The twenty (20) trained women beekeepers were organized as a business group, named
Shaheen Honey Business Group and registered as Best Town Local Support Organization
(LSO). Now they are working under the umbrella of the Best Town LSO.

5.8

Value Chain Development (VCD) Training

VCD training was arranged for twenty (20) beneficiaries of the Shaheen Honey Business Group
in Gahkkuch Balla in Ghizer with an objective to make the beekeepers aware of basic
knowledge of value addition techniques and VCD concepts which would improve their product
and help increase their income. Mr. Kamal Uddin, Program Manager Enterprise Development
facilitated the training and briefed the trainees on VCD steps, including quality assurance,
processing, packaging, and marketing, while maintaining supply of the honey-made products in
a systematic manner. The participants learnt how value addition could help them increase the
demand and expand the market of their product.

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5.9

Branding and Marketing of the Honey

Women of the Shaheen Honey Business Group developed their own honey brand named
Shaheen-Honey. Since there were not many brands of honey available in local market, the
business group received positive response from nearby towns and villages. The group even
didnt feel to make more efforts in marketing since the demand was very high. Initially, HF
helped in developing, branding and marketing of the honey, however, now women are
independently marketing and selling honey. On the other hand, the BTLSO provides technical
assistant to the women of the Shaheen Honey Business Group and shares their progress and
challenges with HF to strengthen the women based enterprises.

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5.10 Packaging of Honey

Shaheen Honey Business Group received a huge demand for raw honey, resultantly they sold all
the produced honey in raw form in the local market. Therefore the group didnt required to use
packaging and branding. This year they produced 285 kg (627 lb) and sold an average of PKR.
1, 000 (US$ 10) per kg, which was a great achievement for the Shaheen women honey business
group.

6- Output and Achievements of the Project

The project has helped improve the socio-economic status of the underprivileged people,
especially women of District Ghizer. Honey bee farming is a lucrative income generating
enterprise. The environment in terms of natural and manmade flora is in abundance and
available for more than six months of year. The immediate earnings from the beehives within
three to four months is another important factor that contributes to economic sustainability of
the beneficiaries. Some of the measureable project outputs and outcomes are as follow:
-
-
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-
-
-
-
-
-

20 women, identified, mobilized and trained.

60 beehives distributed: 3 per beekeeper.
20 production kits, distributed amongst the beneficiaries.
285 kg (627 lb) honey produced and sold in local market for RS.1, 000 (US$ 10) per kg.
Income of Rs. 285,000 (US$ 2,850) earned by the Shaheen Honey Business Group 2014.
67 children have access to quality education.
121 indirect beneficiaries.
Womens involvement in decision-making increased in their village.
Extra income was spent on health care and food.

7- Linkages Building and Visibility

HF regularly conducted monitoring visits to assess the progress of the project and consulted all
the stakeholders. HF developed linkages with; local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Local
Support Organizations (LSOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Government line
departments to make the project more viable and sustainable. Local media and District
authorities highly appreciated the women focused initiatives made by HF and highlighted
extensively that such intervention could play pivotal role for poverty alleviation.

8- Risks/ Challenges and Assumptions

Globally, honey bee farming carries a natural risk, and this project was susceptible to the same
risks. However, the potential for securing a better livelihood for targeted beneficiaries far
outweighed the risks, especially involving the community in community based employment
increased the source of income and livelihood in remote valley of District Ghizer.
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Before starting the project, HF team conducted series of meetings with all the political and
religious leaders to avoid hurdles during the project life cycle.
Environmental risk, harsh winter and lack of infrastructure, is the key factor in GB and Chitral.
Keeping in mind such risks, HF developed business groups of beneficiaries for collective shifting
of the beehives to reduce transportation cost and other risks.
Apart from this, HF signed an agreement with the supplier to assist the beneficiaries to shift
their beehives to the down country in off-season and deliver back to the project site during
season.
Initially, it was very difficult to mobilize the women due to cultural sensitivities, but HF curtailed
this challenge through engaging community elders and relevant stakeholders during the
beneficiarys selection process.

9- Lessons Learnt

HF found that building capacity of the marginalized people, particularly women, not only
provides them with encouragement and improves their socio-economic conditions, but
also provides them with decision making skills.
The women have great potential to benefit from income generation initiatives and to
utilize the knowledge, gained through different capacity building programs to upgrade
their businesses.
Honey beekeeping is a model of civil society enterprise development. Beekeepers know
the way bees are organized and have specific role to play in producing honey. With a
clear understanding of the teamwork, participating in the tasks, to achieve desirable
results can lead to an organized society among the people, particularly women and
other partners such as shopkeepers, traders and suppliers.
HF realized that the trained beekeepers can play an important role in creating an
enabling environment in the society and can help to create diversity and tolerance,
which are the milestones for a civil society. Beekeepers are more confident and
motivated to become a social change agent through such micro entrepreneurial
initiatives. VCD of the product/service is the integral part of the civil society
development and value chain of the honey might promote socio-cultural and civil
society sustainability

10- Conclusion
The fact remains that women are about 51% of the country and have a very low contribution to
the family income. This project provided an opportunity to women to earn livelihood for their
families by undertaking entrepreneurial initiatives.
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HF found that expanding these income-generating programs to low-income families had

strengthened the socio economic conditions of the targeted communities and helped alleviate
poverty. So far, the income of the families facilitated with beekeeping has increased by 25% in
Ghakuch Balla. These families have moved from below the poverty line towards above the
poverty line. The project has also started providing an indirect benefit to families of the
targeted women who are using a percentage of their income to pay for their childrens
\education, health care and improving their nutrition too.
Some of the trained beekeepers are now working with HF as Master Trainers, thus helping HF in
replicating its Plan Bee model in other remote areas of the District.
On behalf of the Hashoo Foundations team and its beneficiaries, we are thankful to
Chapelwood Foundation for their financial contribution to empower 20 more women in honey
bee farming and enabled them to earn an income to improve quality of life, provide education
to their children and better nutrition and health to their families. We are looking for forward to
our continued partnership.

Annex A Training Schedule

Days

Day 1

Time & Date

Time : 9:00 4:00
Date : 05-05-2014

Activities

Introduction of the participants

Introduction of Hashoo Foundation
Purposes of the training course
Introduction of trainers
Tea break
Expectations of the trainees from the course
Conduct the pretest about beekeeping
Lunch break
Out major beekeeping problems of the area - group work
Honey bee & its biology
Behaviors of honey bees & its activities

Day 2

Time : 9:00 4:00
Date : 06-05-2014

Follow up and evaluation of day first

Hive management
Site selection for apiary
Hives and its different types
Attract bee to the in hives
Tea break
Tools used in beekeeping
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Apiary management
Lunch & pray break
Group discussion
Moving colonies
Post test

Days 3

Time : 9:00 4:00
Date : 07-05-2014

Follow up and evaluation of previous day

Winter management of honey bees
Summer management
Tea break
How to make more honey from a colony
Group work and presentation
Lunch break
Group discussion
To share the experience of local beekeepers

Days 4

Time : 9:00 4: 00
Date : 08-05-2014

Follow up of previous day

Common honey bees pests & their control
Biological control of honey bee Pets
Honey bee diseases
Tea break
Control measures
Medication and treatment of diseased colony
Lunch break
Field visit
Practical training on the farm site.

Day 5

Time : 9:00 4: 00
Date : 09-05-2014

Follow up of previous day

Swarming and its behavior
Swarming Preparation
Tea break
Swarm management
Swarm control, capture and removal
Lunch break
Role of Honey bee as pollinator
Field visit
Practical training on the farm site

Day 6

Time : 9:00 4: 00
Date : 10-05-2014

Inspection of the colony

Tea break
Group work and presentation
Artificial feeding techniques
Lunch break
Inspection of the colony
Important bee floras of the area
Practical training on the farm site
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Day 7

Time : 9:00 4: 00
Date : 11-05-2014

Recap of the previous day

Basic management techniques
Tea break
Practical training on the farm site
Lunch break
Post training evaluation
Formal closing of the training

Annexure B Budget Summary

Act.
Code

Particular Activities

Base

Quantity

Total
Amount
PKR.

Total
Amount
USD @100

1.0

Baseline Survey & Mobilization Cost

Trainee

20

30,000

300

2.0

Honey Bee Farming Training Cost

(One week)
Honey Value Chain Development Training
(Three days)
Procurement and Distribution of Beehives &
Production Kits
Branding, Monitoring & Administrative Cost

Trainee

20

100,000

1,000

Trainee

20

50,000

500

Production
Kits
Lump Sum

60

600,000

6,000

120,000

1,200

900,000

9,000

3.0
4.0
5.0

Total Project Operational Budget

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Annexure C Profile of the Trainees

Sr. #
Name

Gender

# Family
Members

# Children in
School

Naheed Amjad

Female

Nafas Begum

Female

Aman Nisa

Female

Yaman

Female

Himat Nisa

Female

Robina

Female

Niat Bi Bi

Female

Janaroop

Female

Kosour

Female

10

Iqbal Bano

Female

11

Perveen

Female

12

Razia

Female

13

Noormeen

Female

14

Shahida

Female

15

Fozia Mir

Female

16

Bi BiGul

Female

17

Qurbani

Female

18

Dudi

Female

19

Doulat Bi bi

Female

20

Bulbul Zareen

Female

Total

121

67

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REGISTRATION/SURVEY FORM

Personal Information:

Name of Trainee*: __________________________ D/O or W/O _________________________

Gender*:
Male
Female

Marital Status* Married
Single*
Date of Birth*: _________________ NIC No _____________________ Qualification: _________
Village: __________________ Region: __________________ Nationality* _________________
Telephone No: __________________________ Mobile No: _____________________________
Address*: _____________________________________________________________________

Family Information:
S #

Member Name

Gender

Date
Birth

Of Marital
Status

Relation

Occupation

Qualification

E
conomic & Transport Information:
S. No Source of Income Gross Monthly Pay/Income

Annual Income

Transport Type

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Beneficiary Information:

S. No
Expense Type

Annual Expenses

Declaration:

------------------------------- D/O, W/O -------------------------------- a citizen of Pakistan hereby solemnly

declare that, I have written absolutely correct information if proven false or any of my deeds during
the training results in harming the good will or property of Hashoo Foundation or anywhere I would be
undergoing for training, I would be held liable for it.



Signature of Trainee/Beekeeper




Prepared by: _____________
Date: __________________




Signature: _______________















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Annexure D pictures

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