Bees for Development Journal 100
the number of occupied and vacant cavities, harvesting and floral diversity. Awareness campaigns, a one day ecological show and posters on ecological linkages are also part of the programme. A booklet will be prepared at the end of the first year. We hope that this will lead to conservation of shola woodland, the bees and the whole ecosystem.
Next
• Surveying and documenting all cavities occupied by honey bees. • Documenting the cavities which are not harvested and the bees’ migration dates. • Recording floral details and renewal rights over the cavities in accordance with traditional family rights.
• Awareness campaigns, posters, responsible eco tourism and community conservation and monitoring practices.
Inside a Toda house: the author is on the right
• Creating a watchdog committee from the local Toda community to restrict destruction of Toda traditional domains and marked territories.
Funding support Hill Area Development Programme, Nilgiris.
Implementing and capacity building Keystone Foundation: Aradu Kuttan, Robert Leo, Saneesh and community members.
Also part of the team The Divisional Forest Officer, the Forest Range Officer and Watchers of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.
Further reading
Keystone Foundation in BfD Journal 87
DUTT,R.; SEELEY,J.; ROY,P. (eds) (2009) Proceedings of the Biodiversity and Livelihoods Conference. Write-Arm, Bangalore, India.
Shola woodland
Beekeeping livelihoods in the Himalayas Uma Partap, Co-ordinator Honey bees Project, ICIMOD, GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal
Keywords: Apis cerana, bee product, biodiversity, Hindu Kush Himalaya, ICIMOD, Nepal, pollinator, value chain
For over two decades the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has been promoting beekeeping, raising awareness of the importance of honey bees as pollinators, and drawing attention to the important roles of Himalayan indigenous bees. Many factors still need to be addressed so that farmers can make the most of beekeeping for income and rural development. Most important of these are to exploit market opportunities by using a value chain approach, to create an enabling environment for trade, to improve the knowledge of experts in topics important for beekeeping development, and to promote awareness of the role of bees as pollinators for agricultural productivity and biodiversity.
The present phase of the Austrian Development Agency supported project Improving livelihoods through knowledge partnerships and value chains of bee products and services in the Himalayas is to address these issues. We are working with 17 partners in the countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. Efforts are being made to promote equitable participation of women in all project activities.
Participants in a value chain workshop conducted in Gopeswar, Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, India
delivery. A pro-poor value chain for honey will help producers to improve their incomes from bee products by bringing quality into their production and enhancing their marketing prospects.
We conducted action research to assess current honey value chains. Honey production, harvesting, processing and marketing practices were studied in sites in the Chittagong Hills (Bangladesh), Himachal and Uttarakhand Provinces (India), Dadeldhura District (Nepal) and Chitral District (Pakistan) to identify leverage points in the chain where interventions can be made. Area specific action plans have been developed and the partner organisations are being supported to implement them.
Pro-poor value chains for honey
Competition in the honey and bee product sector is fierce and it can be difficult for farmers to access markets to sell their produce at reasonable prices. In our project, stakeholders are using a value chain approach to analyse market pathways and maximise benefits. This approach addresses the factors that determine whether a product meets market requirements concerning quality, price, dependability, volume, design, and speed of 6
