PROJECT CO M PLETI O N R EPO RT

Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Plan Bee

Gamba, District Skardu (Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan)

December 2013

CONTENTS
Acronyms 1- Project Summary Project Goal 2- 3 4 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 11 11 12 12 13 13 13 15 16 18 19 21 21 22

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

3- Background 4- Objectives 5- Project Activities Under Taken 5.1 Community Mobilization 5.2 Selection of the Trainees 5.3 Selection of the Master Trainers 5.4 Development of Training Schedule 5.5 Post Training Evaluation 5.6 Monitoring Visits to the Project 5.7 Distribution of Certicates, Beehives & Production Kits 5.8 Formation of the Cluster Based Association 5.9 Value Chain Development (VCD) Training 5.10 Branding and Marketing of the Honey 5.11 Packaging of Honey 6- 7- 8- 9- Output and Achievements of the Project Outcomes of the Project Linkages Building and Visibility Risks/ Challenges and Assumptions

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 four core programmatic areas: economic development, education and skills development, supporting people with special needs, and providing emergency relief and social welfare.

O U R VA L U E S
Hashoo Foundation draws on the values of equity, inclusivity, transparency, innovation, integrity, respect and fulllment.

ABOUT US
Hashoo Foundation is a progressive and dynamic non-prot organization, leading the way in human development and poverty alleviation by implementing viable economic development, educational and capacity building programs in Pakistan. Hashoo Foundation is also focused on the needs of children. Hashoo Foundation 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 notied/ published in Gazette of Pakistan dated 15/02/2005 under clause (3) of clause (58). - Hashoo Foundation USA is a non-prot organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code EIN 20-0748173. - Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy 2011 registration. - Charities Commission in the UK.

10- Lessons Learned 11- Conclusion Annexure 1 - Training Schedule Annexure 2 - Budget Summary Annexure 3- Prole of the Trainees Annexure 4- Beneciaries Prole Template

ACRONYMS
CBO CWF EDP GB HF HBG IP LSO NGO PB VCD Community Based Organization Chapelwood Foundation Enterprise Development Program Gilgit- Baltistan Hashoo Foundation Honey Business Group Implementing Partner Local Support Organization Non-Governmental Organization Plan Bee Value Chain Development

1- PROJECT SUMMARY
PROJECT TITLE IMPLEMENTING PARTNER FUNDED BY AREA OF IMPLEMENTATION TOTAL DIRECT BENEFICIARIES TOTAL INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES OVERALL MANAGEMENT TECHNICAL SUPPORT PROJECT MANAGER IMPLEMENTING TEAM PROJECT DURATION PROJECT BUDGET COUNTRY Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Plan Bee Project Hashoo Foundation Chapelwood Foundation Gamba, District Skardu (Gilgit-Baltistan) 20 women 122 family members including 61 children who got access to quality education Ali Akbar, Country Director, HF-Pakistan Aqeel Nawaz Khan, Director- Programs, HF- Pakistan Cristal Montaz Baylor, Executive Director, HF-USA Kamal Uddin BJ Shams & HF-Gilgit Team One year (January 2013- December 2013) US$11,000 Pakistan

2- PROJECT GOAL
The overall goal of the project was to increase the income of twenty (20) poor women through building their capacity as honey bee farmers and distribution of sixty (60) beehives among them.

3- BACKGROUND
Hashoo Foundation, with the nancial support of the Chapelwood Foundation, is building capacity of underprivileged women in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on beekeeping skills. In 2012, Chapelwood Foundation awarded a third grant for US$ 11,000 to train twenty (20) women and provide sixty (60) beehives to develop women Honey Business Group. HF trained twenty (20) new women in honey bee keeping from Gamba, Skardu. On completion of the training, sixty (60) beehives were distributed to the participant trainees. The trainees extended their gratitude to the Chapelwood Foundation for the generous contribution to help improve the standard of living of women in the remote areas of GB through honey production businesses and recognized the efforts of Hashoo Foundation for arranging the training in this vulnerable area. Honey bee farming is a unique area where HF has strong capacity. HF works through trainings and value chain development, formulation of business groups, distribution of beehives and production kits and links its trainees with the market through providing them innovative branding and marketing ideas. The project was one of its kind which contributed well in achieving HFs overall economic development strategy in the target area. It helped women in making themselves self-sustained and to decrease their dependency on their male partners. The Mountain Honey brand produced by the Plan Bee beneciaries is now being supplied to Serena Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Pearl-Continental Hotels and a range of domestic supermarkets across Pakistan.

4- OBJECTIVES
The aim of the project was to: - - - Build the capacity of twenty (20) underprivileged women of Skardu through honey bee keeping skills Distribute sixty (60) beehives, three (3) per beekeeper, and twenty (20) production kits (gloves, masks, smokers, veils, safety caps, etc.) and one (1) extractor to target group of trained women Enable the trainees to improve their livelihood by utilizing the acquired knowledge on bee farming

5 - P R O J E C T A C T I V I T I E S U N D E R TA K E N 5.1 Community Mobilization

Hashoo Foundations regional team initiated dialogue with the target communities in collaboration with the Tormik Rundu Local Support Organization (LSO) in Skardu. The communities expressed a keen desire for training in order to enhance their production capacity.

5.4 Development of Training Schedule

A consensus was built for implementation of the project and the training schedule was nalized with the participation of the selected trainees and their communities. Based on mutual consensus the training was scheduled from April 28 to May 04, 2013, and the training on honey bee farming was conducted as per planned schedule. The topics covered as per planned training schedule are included in Annexure 1.

5.2 Selection of the Trainees

Hashoo Foundation identied targeted women through a participatory selection process. An initial meeting was held with the women organizations and community based organizations in village Gamba, District Skardu. The participants were briefed about the importance of enterprise development and honey bee farming. They were told that beekeeping is an income generating activity with an incubation period of three months, which can be undertaken at cottage level, as it does not require heavy investments or infrastructure. The participants were also informed that congenial climatic conditions and availability of bee ora at selected locations including Ghizer, Skardu and Hunza districts are providing excellent opportunities for beekeeping. The participants highlighted that onsite appropriate training is needed with inputs including beehives and extractors. After the initial meeting and the analysis of the baseline survey and recommendations made by the community leaders, twenty (20) trainees were identied. The following specic selection criteria were employed for their selection: - - - - - The trainees should be women; Ability to demonstrate and transfer the skill to other person; Have the potential to build a small entrepreneur; The selected person should have interest for honey beekeeping; Be able to play positive role in linkages development between

5.5 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 satised from the presentation skills of the trainer? How was the practical work and to what extent you found it interesting? Was the training duration sufcient? How was the overall training environment and arrangement?

The overall feedback was very positive and the trainees appreciated the skills of the trainers as well as the training arrangements.

institutions and communities.

5.3 Selection of the Master Trainers

Two (2) master trainers women were hired by Hashoo Foundation to impart the theoretical and practical training. The trainers were highly experienced and dedicated, and they conducted the training in a very professional manner through interactive sessions and using practical approach.

5.6 Monitoring Visits to the Project

The Regional Program Management team visited and monitored the project on July 22, 2013. During its visit, the team met with the trainees as well as local stakeholders and discussed ways for improvements. Post training evaluation/exam was conducted to assess the learning level of the trainees, and asked the following questions including: - - - - - - How much you did you learn from this training? Did you easily understand the training language? Were you satised from the presentation skills of the trainers? Was the practical work interesting? Was the training duration sufcient? How was the training arrangement?

The feedback from the trainees was very positive and the facilitators were also satised from the learning aptitude of the trainees as well as their high motivation level.

5.7 Distribution of Certificates, Beehives & Production Kits

Closing ceremony of the training was held in Gamba Skardu. Mr. Bj Shams, Mr. Kamal Uddin and Mr. Garee Khan, from Hashoo Foundation, participated in the closing ceremony of the honey bee training. Sixty (60) beehives and production kits were distributed among the 20 trainees. Trainees were happy with the training and they thanked Chapelwood Foundation and Hashoo Foundation for providing such a valuable training and inputs to help alleviate the poverty level of this marginalized community.

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5.10 Branding and Marketing of the Honey

Women of the Khasman Honey Business Group developed their own honey brand named Khasman-Honey. Since there were not many brands of honey available in local market, the business group received very positive response from nearby towns and villages. Initially, HF helped in the developing, branding and marketing of the honey, however, now the women are independently marketing and selling their honey. On the other hand, the Gamba LSO is providing technical assistant to the women of the Khasman Honey Business Group and sharing their progress and challenges with HF to strengthen the women based enterprises.

5.11 Packaging of Honey

The Khasman-Honey is processed locally and packed in food graded plastic jars. Currently, Khasman-Honey is available in two different packaging sizes: 250gm and 450gm

5.8 Formation of the Cluster Based Association

The twenty (20) trained women beekeepers have been organized as Business Group namely Khasman Honey Business Group in Gamba and has been registered as Gamba Local Support Organization (LSO). Now they are working under the umbrella of the Gamba LSO.

5.9 Value Chain Development (VCD) Training

VCD training was arranged and imparted to twenty (20) beneciaries of the Khasman Honey Business Group in Gamba Skardu. The VCD aimed to make the beekeepers aware of basic knowledge of value addition techniques and value chain development concepts and how they could add value to 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 processes, packaging, and marketing, while maintaining supply of the honeymade products in a systematic manner. The participants learnt how value addition could help them increase the demand of their product and expand the

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market of their honey.

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6- OUTPUT & ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PROJECT

- - - - - - - - - 20 women identied, mobilized and trained 60 beehives distributed (3 per beekeeper) 20 production kits distributed amongst the beneciaries 400 Kg. (880 Lb.) honey produced and sold honey in local market by the beneciaries Income of PKR. 300,000 (US$ 2,900) earned by the beneciaries this year 61 children have access to quality education; 122 indirect beneciaries Womens involvement in decision-making increased Extra income was spent on health care and food

7- OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT

The project has helped improve the socio-economic status of the underprivileged people, especially the targeted women in the Gamba, Skardu. Honey bee farming is a lucrative income generating enterprise. The environment in terms of natural and manmade ora is in abundance and available for more than six months of the year. The immediate earnings from the beehives within three to four months are other important factors that contribute to economic sustainability of the beneciaries Some of the measureable outcomes of the project are as follow: - - - - Income of the trained beekeepers increased up to 20% Due to increase of income, enrolment in schools increased by 30% There has been a 5% reduction in malnutrition and 10% increase in access to health care facilities Mobilization play very encouraging role and womens role in decision making increased

8- LINKAGES BUILDING AND VISIBILITY

HF regularly conducted monitoring visits to the project area to gauge the progress of the project and consulted with all the stakeholders. HF developed linkages with local civil society organizations (CSOs), local support organizations (LSOs), community based organization (CBOs), Government line department 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 reduction.

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9- RISKS/CHALLENGES & 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 target beneciaries far outweighed the risks, especially involving the community in community based employment increased the source of income and livelihood in remote valley of Gamba, district Skardu.

10- LESSONS LEARNED

-HF found that building capacity of the marginalized people, particularly women, not only provided them with encouragement and hope to improve their socio-economic conditions, but also provided decision making skills among them. -The women have great potential to benet from income generation initiatives

There was no social risk, as HF has track record of extensive honey bee and microenterprise development experience. Similarly marketing of honey was not a risk, as HF itself purchases honey from the beneciaries. Before the start of the project, HF team conducted series of meeting with all the political and religious leaders. Therefore, HF did not face any hurdles during the project life cycle. Environmental risk is the key factor in GB and Chitral due to harsh winter season and lack of infrastructural facilities. Keeping in mind such risks, HF developed business group of beneciaries for collective shifting of the beehives and to reduce transportation cost and other risks. Apart from this, HF signed an agreement with the supplier to assist the beneciaries to shift their beehives to down the country in winter and take beehives back to the project site at the start of the harvesting season. Also, there were cultural barriers for the HF staff to work directly with female trainees. Initially, it was very difcult to mobilize the women due to cultural hindrances and male dominancy attitude, but HF curtailed this challenge through engaging community elders and relevant stakeholders during the beneciarys selection process.

and utilize the knowledge gained through different capacity building programs to upgrade their businesses. -Honey bee keeping is a model of civil society enterprise development. Beekeepers know the way bees are organized and have specic role to play in producing honey. With a clear understanding of the team work, specic tasks to achieve a desirable results and participating in the tasks can lead to an organized society among the people particularly women and other partners like shop keepers, 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 of a civil society. Beekeepers are very much condent and motivated to become a social change agent of the society through such micro entrepreneurial initiatives. Value chain development 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

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11- CONCLUSION
The fact remains that women are about 51% of the country and have a very low contribution in the family income. This project provided opportunity for women to earn livelihood for their families by undertaking entrepreneurial initiatives. This was a new area of intervention for the HF with challenging cultural and gender constraints. During the mobilization and selection phase of the project HF faced hurdles due to gender sensitivity however, the HF team worked very closely with the indigenous people and the local leadership to achieve the set objectives in an efcient and effective manner. HF found that expanding these income-generating programs to low-income families have 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 20%. These families have moved from below the poverty line towards above the poverty line. The project has also started providing an indirect benet to families of the targeted women and now they have started using their income to pay for their childrens education and health care and improving their nutrition. The trained beekeepers are now working with HF as master trainers and they are ready to work as champions of change and help HF in replicating its Plan Bee honey model in other remote areas of the district. On behalf of the Hashoo Foundations team and its beneciaries, we are thankful to Chapelwood Foundation for granting us nancial resources and we are looking forward to having the same relationship with Chapelwood Foundation in near future.

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ANNEXURE 1 - TRAINING SCHEDULE

DAY 1 Time: 9:00-4:00 Date: 28-04-2013
Registration of the trainees Introduction of the participants Introduction of Hashoo Foundation Purpose of the training course Introduction of trainers Tea break Expectations of the trainees from the course Conduct the pretest about beekeeping Lunch break Explain major beekeeping problems of the area group work Honey bee and its biology; behaviors of honey bees and its activities Follow up and evaluation of day first Hive management Site selection for apiary Hives and its different types How to attract bees to the beehive Tea break Tools used in beekeeping Apiary management Lunch and prayer break Group discussion Moving colonies Post test Follow up and evaluation of previous day Winter management of honey bees Summer management Tea break How to produce more honey from a colony Group work and presentation Lunch break Group discussion Share the experience of local beekeepers

DAY 4 Time: 9:00-4:00 Date: 01-05-2013

Follow up of previous day Common honey bee pests and their control Biological control of honey bee pests Honey bee diseases Tea break Control measures Medication and treatment of diseased colony Lunch break Field Visit Practical training on the farm site 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 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 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

DAY 5 Time: 9:00-4:00 Date: 02-05-2013

DAY 2 Time: 9:00-4:00 Date: 29-04-2013

DAY 6 Time: 9:00-4:00 Date: 03-05-2013

DAY 3 Time: 9:00-4:00 Date: 30-04-2013

DAY 7 Time: 9:00-4:00 Date: 04-05-2013

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ANNEXURE 2 - BUDGET SUMMARY

Expenses per Beekeeper
Mobilization cost Training cost Procurement of beehives (60 beehives) Production kits (20 kits) Monitoring cost Technical assistance in branding & packaging Administrative, transportation & logistics cost Total Expenses

A N N E X U R E 4 - B E N E F I C I A R I E S P R O F I L E T E M P L AT E
Total US $

Chapelwood Foundation Contribution in US $ @ 95 Rupees

411.00 2,037.00 6,316.00 384.00 63.00 316.00 1,474.00 11,000.00

411.00 2,037.00 6,316.00 384.00 63.00 316.00 1,474.00 11,000.00

1. 2.

Name :________________________________ Age : Below 25 25-40 above 40

3. Sex : Male Female 4. 5. Marital Status: Married Middle Unmarried Metric Widow Graduate Qualication: Primary Intermediate 6. Address: _______________________________________________________ 7. Contact #________________________

ANNEXURE 3 - PROFILE OF THE TRAINEES

Sr# Name
1 3 4 Surriya Batoo Bilqees Fatima Syeda Zakiya 2 Hamida

Gender
Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female

Village/Region
Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Gamba, Skardu Total

# of Family Members
3 5 7 8 9 6 8 7 6 7 6 8 8 8 2 4 8 4 5 3 122

# of SchoolGoing Children
3 4 5 6 3 3 2 4 3 3 5 6 4 0 2 5 1 2 61

Family Prole Family Members Male Female Age Relationship Qualication Studying

5 Habiba 6 Fiza 7 8 Syeda Tayeba Shakeel Mayam

9 Janu 10 Marzia 11 Batool 12 Fatima 13 15 17 18 19 20 Hajira Batool Farida Rani Yasmin Rani Syeda Zahra Abida Parveen Syeda Nusrat 14 Yasmin 16 Zubeda

Socio Economic Prole Source of Income PKR. Per Annum Rs. Rs. Agriculture Employment Rs. Honey business Rs. Rs. Others Total

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Honey Bee Farming a. Training: 1. 2. Did you receive the honey bee training? If Yes, what kind of training did you receive? Yes No Basic Professional Duration (days) Experience 3. 4. Do you have the experience of Honey Bee keeping? If Yes how long 1- 3 years 3 - 5 years 5 + Yes No 5. Signature of beneciary:____________________________ Name & Signature of Interviewer:__________________________________ Photographs taken: Yes No Date:___________________________________ Remarks (If any):

How many colonies do you have? 1-3 hives 3 - 5 hives 5 +

Contact
Cristal Montaz Baylor Executive Director Hashoo Foundation USA M +1 713 483-4990 F +1 713-759-0787 cristalmontanez@hashoofoundationusa.org www.hashoofoundationusablog.org /HashooFoundationUSA

@HashooFoundaUSA

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