Photo By 1st Sgt. Justin A. Naylor | Sana Rajah (right), a representative from the United States Agency for International...... read more read more
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FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARRIOR, KIRKUK, Iraq— Hundreds of bees fly back and forth inside a farmer's pavilion in a Kurdish village in Iraq. The wooden boxes that act as their hives seem out of place, but they remind the farmer who owns them that better times are still to come.
Sana Rajah, a representative for the United States Agency for International Development, along with Jim Vancura, the senior agricultural advisor for the Kirkuk Provincial Reconstruction Team, visited local farmers in the village of Qaytul, Iraq in late August. The farmers had received bee farming equipment as part of a year-long project designed to increase the income of small farm owners.
"The Honey Bee Hive Development Project intends to help farmers in Kirkuk province increase household income through the inclusion of honey production," said Rajah.
The project began in May of 2008, when 159 farmers, including five women, from throughout Kirkuk province, were each given four modern hive boxes and 30 hours of training on how to properly care for, breed and collect honey from bees. The project was initially identified by the Kirkuk PRT and funded by USAID.
The training was hosted by the Honey Keeper in Kirkuk and Kurds Farmer Union organization, which now works closely with the bee farmers by sharing equipment and continuing to educate them on new ways to increase bee productivity.
According to Rajah, the goal of the project is to give farmers a way to raise their income by consistently producing honey, which sells for about $25 U.S. dollars a kilogram on the local market. Although Rajah does not expect these farmers to become full-time bee keepers, he hopes their income will continue to increase as they produce more honey.
Rajah and Vancura visited several farmers throughout the village during the trip, and noticed many of the farmers had managed to turn four hives into multiple hives through breeding and splitting them.
"At the beginning, we did not know anything about keeping bees," said Saier Bibi, one of the farmers who attended the bee training and who now owns half a dozen beehives. "Now it is easy."
"The association helped us with training and gave us lots of good information about the bees," he said.
"The important thing is giving the farmers training on management of the hives," said Khalid Hameed, the grantee representative and the bee keeper association president that works with the farmers.
"The farmers have increased their number of bees," said Khalid. "Many have even shared with other farmers."
Although the bee farmers themselves have done well, Rajah and Vancura had to speak with Khalid about developing a good business plan for the beekeeping association, which it currently lacks, to ensure its sustainability.
According to Rajah, this requires the association to continue training the beekeepers on the most up-to-date techniques, thereby increasing their yields and allowing them to contribute more back to the association in the form of membership fees.
This year the hives did not yield as much honey as expected. According to the PRT, a beehive should produce about 5 kilograms per year and many of them have produced less. But, the farmers and beekeeper's association expect that it will improve in the coming years.
"This is a very good project," said Saier. "We can earn money for our families, and it is something we can pass on to our children one day."
| Date Taken: | 08.27.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 08.28.2009 12:44 |
| Story ID: | 38080 |
| Location: | KIRKUK, IQ |
| Web Views: | 192 |
| Downloads: | 157 |
This work, Iraqi farmers "buzzing" their way to self-sufficiency, by 1SG Justin A. Naylor, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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