USAID commences project on the Value Chain Development of Honey in KPK.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing $374,333 support to a local NGO HUJRA Village Support Organization, based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to help improve the Honey sector.

The funding support is provided through a sub-award by the USAID PAKISTAN ENTREPRENEURS project. Agnes G Luz, Chief of Party ENTREPRENEURS and Saleem Ahmed, Executive Director, HUJRA signed the sub-agreement on 27 October 2011 in Islamabad to carry out this project titled ‘Value Chain Development of Honey’ in different UCs of Swat (Taleegram, Janu-Chamtalai, Shalpin, Shin, Miandam, Bashigram, Darmai, Sakhra, Gualerai,  Biha, Fatihpur, Madian, Tirat, Islampur, Kokarai). The initiative will help 5,000 local beekeepers in many ways and is expected to increase their income by at least 50% in the course of the project.
Value Chain work is a crucial step in ensuring that the 3000 beekeepers  who were supported in terms of training, honey bee boxes  and toolkits under the Post Flood Livelihood Recovery project by USAID and HUJRA and additional 2,000 beekeepers, get connected to better buyers from viable and more sustainable markets at the local, national and international levels. Interventions will include technical trainings to beekeepers, business and marketing training for sales agents, development of linkages with alternative markets and relevant business service providers, and collectors’ mobilization and capacity building.