ISLAMABAD: The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) recently conducted beekeeping training sessions for women beekeepers in Gilgit Baltistan region under the Modernisation and Scaling up Beekeeping for Women Livelihood and Empowerment programme.
“Beekeepers reached out to TIKA via National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) for assistance with training,” Asad Khan, the programme manager at TIKA, told WealthPK.
“The programme had two components – information and products (kits, beehives, etc.), both of which are essential for complete and effective assistance,” Khan explained.
The initiative spanned over two rounds/batches of training with each batch comprising 25 participants. “Beekeepers, who already had 8-10 boxes (beehives) were eligible to enroll in the programme,” the TIKA programme manager said.
He said that modern beehives based on Turkish design were given out to the participants upon completion of the training. “Turkish-styled boxes produce roughly three kilogrammes more honey than locally-designed boxes,” Khan claimed.
Honey produced in the Gilgit-Baltistan region fetches Rs2,000 to Rs5,000 per kilogramme. Each Turkish-styled modern beehive is capable of producing 8-10kg of honey per season.
“This is an average estimate,” Khan remarked, “As the yield per box can go up to as high as 14 kg depending on the expertise of the beekeeper.”
TIKA has been actively involved in amplifying Pakistan’s beekeeping efforts over the years.
In 2018, a similar women empowerment initiative was launched in Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “About 130 families received training and 450 boxes (beehives) were distributed among them,” Khan disclosed.
In 2020, a letter of understanding was signed between TIKA and NARC, which led to the former upgrading of the latter’s lab at Honeybee Research Institute (HBRI). This upgrade allowed HBRI to breed its own queen bees, test for additives, etc.
In 2021, TIKA conducted beekeeping training across five major cities of Pakistan. Beekeepers from Peshawar, Kohat; Rawalakot and Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir and Islamabad received training in best practices.
In 2022, TIKA enabled HBRI with the technology to extract bi-products such as royal jelly, bee pollen.
TIKA, NARC, the agriculture department of Gilgit Baltistan and Asquur were partners in the women empowerment initiative in Gilgit Baltistan.
Asquur is a Gilgit-Baltistan-based startup focusing on supplying organic honey and walnut oil harvested in the region to the world.
The organisation is empowering women beekeepers of Gilgit-Baltistan by providing them with exposure to best practices and modern products for beekeeping.
INP
