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Background:
The Northern Areas and Chitral (NAC) are amongst the poorest and most isolated
regions in Pakistan. Due to severe weather conditions in winter, access to the region can
prove very difficult for up to six months a year. The consequences are a limited access
to education, health facilities, and a lack of gainful employment opportunities. The
economy of these areas is mainly based on subsistence agriculture organized at the
village level. However, even subsistence farming is difficult because cultivable lands are
scattered, landholding is limited and markets are distant. Unemployment in these areas
is very high and enterprise culture is hindered by the lack of storage facilities and other
Marketing services which force farmers to sell their production at once or let the produce
goes to waste. Supporting the Honeybee Production project is a relevant strategy to
provide the residents of the NAC with improved livelihoods while promoting women
advancement within their community.
This project will scale up the achievements of a previous project carried out by the Aga
Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) in this region. In the district of Gilgit,
neighboring Hashoo Foundation’s project area, the AKRSP introduced Honeybee
keeping and honey production as an income-generating activity in 1993. They provided
trainings and inputs to local beekeepers. They also tried to develop linkages to market
for the local production, but faced difficulties with the implementation. Hashoo
Foundation’s project will focus on successfully creating such linkages with markets. By
addressing local women issues, beekeepers or newcomers, providing inputs and
trainings, and focusing on the production of by-products. The Honeybee Project will
allow these women to increase their income and to become more integrated in decision-
making process within their community.
Commitment Progress:
an individual basis, the female producers have been able to increase their
expenses in services for their families, such as health, education, etc.
vii. 90 producers and 600 dependents are benefiting from honey project
viii. 60% of the honey producers associated in NAHBKWA are women
ix. 90 honey producers sold their honey product to distant market (Hashoo Group of
Hotels)
x. The standards of production have improved dramatically: honeybee farmers
adapted from producing for a local market to producing for 5-star hotels customers.
To ensure the highest standards of quality, Pakistan Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (PCSIR) is conducting regular random tests of honey for
Hashoo Foundation.
xi. Steps have been taken to obtain a fair trade certificate for the honey sold under this
project. In the same drive for quality, Hashoo Foundation is working toward
obtaining internationally recognized organic certification for the honey.
Lessons Learned:
There are several lessons learned during the period of one year. As mentioned above,
honeybee farmers had to adapt from producing for a local market to producing for 5-star
hotels customers – an extremely demanding market segment. The important lessons
learned process came from packaging and transporting the honey to ensure maximum
satisfaction of our customers:
i. Proper technical human resources and packaging materials are not available at the
production site; as a result the project faced a lot of problems. Honey leaked from its
package and customers found it hard to open our initial single serving package.
ii. To fix this problem, raw materials were procured from southern regions of Pakistan
to the production site in the North. Packing of honey is now done at the site for the
1kg jar and the finished product is transported to the South for sale. However, to cut
down costs, it was decided to outsource the 20g single serving pack and the 450g
bottles to food packaging companies around Islamabad.
Ms. Meher Bano is a resident from a small village called Danyore in the Northern Area of
Pakistan. She has 5 daughters and 1 son and all her children go to school or university.
Seven years ago, she started a small honey bee farming business with a single bee
hive. Today, she has 20 bee hives. During the year 2007-08, she earned PKR 170,000
(approx. US$ 2,600) from her honey bee business. This income helps her pay for her
children’s education, her family’s health and various daily expenses for the household.
She is a very committed and hardworking woman. However, local market for honey bee
keepers is very limited and can barely absorb the quantity of honey produced in the
area. This is why Meher Bano is very happy with Hashoo Foundation’s intervention.
Through HF’s marketing, she could sell her honey to 5-star hotels throughout Pakistan,
to customers coming from all over the world – something she is very proud of. “Now we
are very optimistic about the future” she says. “Hashoo Foundation will help market our
honey, and produce wax and jelly”. Thanks to her honey business, she can support her
family financially and set an example for other female entrepreneur in her community.
Ms. Jamila is a resident from a small village called Danyore in the Northern Area of
Pakistan. She is mother of 2 sons and 1 daughter and all of them are getting education
in schools. Five years ago she started honey bee farming business with two bee hives.
Today she has 20 bee hives. During the year 2007-08 she earned PKR 150,000 (approx
US$ 2,300) from honey bee business.
“The honey I produced pays for my children’s education” Jamila says proudly. Not only
that, but Jamila also provides for the health and daily expenses of her family. When we
met to her, she was very happy with Hashoo Foundation’s intervention. She too felt
constrained by the limited local market which brought prices down due to constant
surplus of honey.
Now, she knows she will be able to sell her entire production… and more. “Hashoo
Foundation has helped us find new markets for our honey”, she says. She will take part
in the upcoming refresher training courses to not only increase her production but also
venture in the production of very lucrative by-products.
Future Plans:
Partnerships:
Resources Needed:
A measurable amount of resources to be needed for honey bee farming project, but
some of the important resources has been highlighted in the blow table.
1. Equipment
2. Human Resources
Media opportunities:
Hashoo Foundation’s Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming has been
selected as one of the 12 finalists of the prestigious BBC World Challenge 2008 among
700 nominations. BBC World will produce a documentary on the project which will be
featured on the channel as well as in Newsweek from October 1st 2008 until the end of
the voting stage on November 21st 2008. This will be an excellent media opportunity for
this project to reach out to audience worldwide and establish it as a solid development
model.
Location (Village/Town/City, Country); Northern Areas (Gilgit and Ghizer), NWFP (Chitral
City), Pakistan
Required funding for the project is approximately $144,700 including material, labor
costs, training, etc.