Project summary
Beekeeping is one useful option of income generating activities in mountain areas. It is one of the main agricultural activities carried out by the rural communities in southern sub-tropical belts of Bhutan. There is no environmental hazard like emission of green-house gases/hazardous pollutants from beekeeping and issues of animal welfare and food safety are minimal. The main product (honey) have long shelf due to its natural properties (low pH, high sugar content, and low water content) keeping it safe from spoilage. The common objective of the beekeepers is to utilize local honeybee diversity for enhancing climate resilient rural livelihood.
Bees produce honey as the primary product and wax and proplis as by-products. Bees also carry out pollination of agricultural crops and range of wild flora. There is great scope for development of community-based beekeeping enterprise with local honeybees (Apis cerana) in Bhutan. Beekeeping activities will help farmers generate income through sale of honey and honey by-products and through services like pollination, medicine and cosmetics values and eco-tourism. The local honeybees travels up to a distance of two kilometers (radius) to collect nectar, pollen and water. During the process of collecting food, the bees pollinate the plants improving the ecosystem and biodiversity in the locality. This will result in improved farm productivity and biodiversity, thereby helping farmers to be climate resilient.
Bees in Bhutan are usually reared in traditional log hives where the comb cannot be removed or manipulated for management. In log hives, the combs are plundered while harvesting honey killing the brood and adult bees. Therefore, it is important to educate the farmers on the importance of bee and improve harvesting techniques to save adult bees and brood through introduction of modern beekeeping practices. Practical hands-on training should be provided to farmers and appropriate by-laws enacted to conserve honeybee population and diversity.
The proposed project will be carried out in communities of Surphang and Wangling under Budashi Chiwog, Goshing Gewog, Zhemgang Dzongkhag. Goshing Gewog is one of the eight Gewogs of Zhemgang Dzongkhag located about 113 kilometers (km) from the Dzongkhag headquarters towards Pangbang Drungkhag. The project area is located in lower Zhemgang with a total area of 197 square kilometer. The Gewogs have more than 87 percent of its land under forest cover. Goshing Gewog has 242 households (HHs) with a population of 2,795. The altitude of the project area ranges from 150 masl to 1,800 masl. The forest consists mostly of subtropical with few patches of cool-broadleaved forest in the north.
The project plans to create awareness on modern beekeeping methods in Goshing gewogs. There are many other potential communities for beekeeping enterprise development in lower Zhemgang. However, the project will focus in uplifting the livelihoods of Budashi Chiwog as the environment in those communities are one of the most suitable for rearing bees. The remaining potential communities in the locality will be provided help and support through outsourcing of funds from various agencies and organizations.
The project will benefit a total of 44 households the above mentioned communities. The project will also indirectly benefit 6,472 people living in the vicinity of the Gewog through sustained availability of honey and job opportunities. The project will contribute to creation of employment for youth and women in particular and in the process discourage or reduce rural-urban migration. The project is thus expected to directly benefit youths, women and elderly people in the Gewog through their engagement in beekeeping enterprise value chain.
The project can serve as an indicator for climate change in the communities under Budashi Chiwog. Through the project, the behavior patterns of honeybees can be studied to indicate the impacts of climate change. The project will also help to diversify income generating opportunity of rural farmers and benefit other relevant stakeholders such as non-beekeeping farmers, livestock extension staffs and forestry.
Problem Statement
Zhemgang Dzongkhag has a forest coverage of more than 87 percent which provides conducive habitat for many wildlife species. On the other hand, the country enforces stringent conservation policies which has also contributed to increased human-wildlife conflicts. These have discouraged farmers in taking up agricultural farming activities resulting in consistent high poverty rate of 16.3 percent in the Dzongkhag. The government has initiated measures to balance development with conservation through various interventions like integrated eco-friendly farm intensification practices. One of such practices is promoting beekeeping activities to increase farm production and enhance benefits to ecosystem.
Bees are one of the main pollinator in the animal kingdom. Keeping bees have proven to increase yields and profits from crops substantially through pollination of the crops. There is huge indirect contribution of bees to agricultural production and forest biodiversity. It is estimated that indirect contribution of honeybees to agriculture is 10-15 times greater than direct contribution and is similar to an agrarian country like Bhutan. The economic value of pollination services in the US on the 100 most significant crops is estimated at US$ 1.6-9.0 billion and in Costa Rica there had been seven percent increase in coffee production valued at US$ 62,000. The value of honeybees as pollinator is estimated at US$ 117 billion per year worldwide.
Bee colonies are seen nesting in places with lower risk of predation and disturbance. The bee colonies are seen hiving in empty spaces like abandoned empty boxes, hollow log and cavity in walls near human settlements. The communities are not fully aware of beekeeping practices and technologies and have reservations due to fear of bee stings and often use smoke to chase away the bees from their houses thereby leading to death and ultimately to decline in population.
Farmers lack adequate knowledge on bee biology and ecology and beekeeping is mostly riddled with superstition and folklore. Consuming honey is considered immoral because of the nature of work involved in making honey by the bees. It is also considered sinful as harvesting of honey in traditional system of beekeeping in log hives involves killing brood and adult bees. However, the mindset of farmers are slowly changing as modern system of beekeeping does not involve killing of brood or adult bees and also provide easy access to food through the development of bee garden.
The project will have direct benefit through economic activities like sale of product (honey) and eco-tourism activities in the community. The successful development of the project will also influence non-beekeepers to rear bees thus leading to improved livelihood. The project will also contribute in meeting the annual honey production of Dzongkhag, regional and national targets thereby reducing import and ultimately rural poverty reduction. Understanding the huge potential in bee farming, there has been increased level of interest from the farmers and support by the government.
Beekeeping in Zhemgang Dzongkhag is relatively new with only few farmers rearing bees in conventional system. The farmers are not aware of the existence of modern beekeeping practices and technologies and are yet to realize its potential. Introduction of modern beekeeping practices can increase honey production resulting in farm diversification and significantly enhance climate resilience of the communities. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to educate the communities on bees and train farmers on modern beekeeping practices which the project aims to achieve.
1.3.2. Objectives
The primary objective of the project is to ?Promote Climate Resilient Small-scale Beekeeping for Sustainable Rural Livelihood? with the specific objectives to:
? Improve rural livelihood through income generation from beekeeping and eco-tourism
? Conservation of native honeybees to enhance climate resilience and ecosystem
? Enhance local honey production and self-sufficiency to meet the regional and national demand
1.3.3. The expected outcomes from this project
The expected outcomes of the project are:
? Income generated through production and sale of local honey.
? 44 farmers (mainly school dropout youths) of communities will be educated on the native bee conservation, their use in agriculture and forest biodiversity.
? 20 farmers (10 farmers per community) from the communities will be trained on improved local honeybee management techniques.
? The communities will have developed beekeeping by-laws to enhance sustainable use of local bee diversity for improving climate resilient rural livelihood.
1.4. Description of Project Activities
The activities to be carried during the project are:
? The project will commence by providing week long training to the communities by Post Production and Marketing Unit under RLDC, Zhemgang and Dzongkhag Livestock Sector, Zhemgang. The training will focus on the importance and role of bee in agriculture and biodiversity maintenance, bee management and formation of beekeepers group (BKG).
? A part of the project period will be utilized for procurement and transportation of bee keeping materials from NH&RDC, Jakar.
? Arrange visits to established beekeepers? village to gain first hand experiences (20 farmers for 2 days).
? Develop 20 apiary upon selection and preparation of apiary sites by the individual members.
? Plantation of locally available flowering plants and agricultural crops in identified area (5 acres) in the communities to develop foraging area for bees (bee garden) in consultation with concerned agricultural and forestry officials of the community/Gewog.
? Procurement of 40 numbers of bee colonies, basic beekeeping tools and equipment (one set per farmer for 20 HHs) and supply to the communities of Surphang and Wangling under Budashi Chiwog.
? Attach 10 farmers with established beekeepers in NH&RDC, Jakar and BeeKAB, Bumthang
? Train 20 beekeepers on honey processing, packaging and value addition of honey and bee-related products
? Norms and beekeeping management plans will be formulated after creating awareness on beekeeping and submitted to DLO, RLDC and Department of Livestock (DoL) for further recommendations and approval.
? Periodic monitoring of the activities will be done by the Dzongkhag and RLDC.
? Group constitution of BKG will be functional for the period of five years from the date of approval and can be renewed thereafter after due assessment by members/DLS/RLDC
? The group will sell honey through identified outlets. It will also be linked to Office of Queens Project for export to international market.
? Ecotourism activities
o Home stay with serving of honey-based products and diets
o Eco-trail linking proposed eco-tourism activity for recreational fishery with honey village
o Eco-tourism through exchange visits amongst members of honey village to other honey villages
o Promote sale of branded honey products of the village in sales counter
o Establish floral garden and floriculture visits