PAL Involvement in Bee Keeping Projects

PAL Involvement in Bee Keeping Projects

Introduction

In recent years, the world economy has accelerated its globalization and all countries now face the challenge of adjusting to the new environment in order to benefit from the opportunities created. Afghanistan is among the least prepared countries to face those new developments and on top faced strong competition from their neighbors. Efforts are being made from part of international community and Afghan Government to improve the economical conditions of Afghans by rehabilitating the infrastructure and promote small and micro businesses for income generation.  One of few opportunities in this field for people in rural areas of Afghanistan is to generate income from beekeeping projects by producing high quality honey, wax, multiplying bee folks and venture in production of bee hives. Therefore PAL supported a number of beekeeping projects in eastern Afghanistan.

Community based Small Medium Enterprises and Alternative Livelihood projects assisted by PAL are based on the following:

• PAL’s implementation strategy to identify and implement community/village development activities in a participatory way, based on available resources and interest and demand of the communities.

• PAL’s positive response to the VDC/CCDC proposals and DDP (District Development Plan) and the assistance of a number of beekeeping proposals in close coordination with the Provincial Rural Rehabilitation and Development Directorates (PRRDs) and other line agencies.

Bee keeping projects have the advantages that the management requirements are easy to learn and that they provide a good source of (additional) income for the community members. In addition bee keeping is supporting fruit and nut production (via improved pollination e.g. in almonds) and providing high quality honey that is suppose to have some medicinal and nutritional value and is available also in remote areas.

Training

PAL’s assistance in the field of beekeeping consists of vocational trainings (professional training, training of skills and basic training in literacy and calculation) as well as providing beekeeping equipments (beehives, tools, centrifuges) to each trainee or producer group at the end of project.

After the completion of project, PAL facilitated the establishment of village beekeeper associations and linked them to regional beekeeper associations. PAL developed a training curriculum for the beekeeping association that comprises of business and accounting training along with technical trainings for example on mites and diseases control in bee hives.

PAL’s beekeeping promotion program started as early as 2006. So far PAL completed 8 beekeeping projects in the districts of Achin, Chaparhar, Nazayan, Batikot and Kama of Nangarhar province and in Alingar District of Laghman province. In course of the trainings 510 beekeepers were trained and during that the complete set of toolkits, 4 bee folks and additional 4 bee hives were provided to those trainees that frequently participate in the training and paid their own contribution (10%).

Additional 3 projects are ongoing covering additional districts of Behsoud, Batikot Nangahar and Narang of Kunar province. These trainings provide assistance for further 180 interested beekeeping community members from the mentioned districts.

In addition, PAL in cooperation with the Nangahar Beekeeper Association, applied mite control measures during the winter season 2009 in beehives of the member of mentioned associations. 600 beekeepers were trained and 13,000 beehives treated with “Tactic”, a new effective mite control agent. These trainings were conducted in 21 villages of Batikot, Behsud, Surkhrud, Ghanikhel, Rodat, Kama and Chaparhar districts.

PAL also organised a lesson learned workshop in 25-26 November 2008, attended by 54 participants that include advanced and expert beekeepers from Nangarhar and Laghman, representatives of national and international NGOs that have a stake in afghanistan’s beekeeping promotion. The workshop was intended to level-off the available knowledge of beekeeping in Afghanistan and form the basis of further development in this field.

The participants of the workshop shared the problems encountered and experience about different, important topics of beekeeping, honey production, processing and marketing. Crucial topics such as control of mites and foulbrood were discussed in focal lectures and lesson learned summarised on how to improve beekeeping techniques and marketing in Afghanistan worked out.  PAL documented the findings and produced Readers in English and Pashto that are available by PAL for interested stakeholder in this field.

Capacity Development Activities/ Beekeeper Associations

PAL encourage and facilitate that afghan bee keepers form producer associations to reduce the costs derived from inputs such as purchasing a smoker and extractor, but also to reduce costs in marketing and have a better marketing power. In addition farmers can exchange their knowledge, organise themselves to purchasing inputs but also train other interested persons and interested farmers. If they like to start their own bee keeping business, the experienced bee keeper association can provide credit and technical advice.

It is recommended that farmer associations should join regional or national bee keeper associations to get access to professional advice and for lobbying.

In additional the regional beekeeper association Nangahar Beekeeper Association has been

assisted in various fields such as how to organize training, support to do PR for its own and be familiar among village based beekeepers, to access information on modern beekeeping methods and to run mite and disease control beekeeping training.

It is hoped that this network of beekeepers in eastern Afghanistan are able to further promote beekeeping and will particularly address the mayor problems in the field of mite and disease control as well as quality improvement during harvest and packing of local honey.

DISCLAIMER

This article has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and the GTZ IS. The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the GTZ IS.

The Project for Alternative Livelihoods in Eastern Afghanistan (PAL) is located at Jalalabad and funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by GTZ IS