The World Bee Project CIC supports the interdependencies between bees and people, and offers women living in hardship and adversity sustainable additional livelihood options as honey producing beekeepers.

Our 3-year programme 2025-2027

The programme integrates the ecosystem services bees and pollinators provide so that they may in the long-term lead to sustainable development solutions such as protecting farmer livelihoods, creating diverse and more abundant pollinator populations, improving crop pollination, positively impacting food systems, lowering environmental degradation, and providing best practice guidance for government policies on land management for pollinator protection and biodiversity restoration.

As in 2022-2024, The World Bee Project CIC’s programme in the Ayyalur forest, in Dindigul district (Tamil Nadu, India) consists of multiple projects sponsored by different organisations and is governed by The World Bee Project CIC and implemented on the ground by its local NGO partner, Seeds Trust. 

The 3-year programme offers women one-to-one beekeeping skills training and supervision enabling them to embrace beekeeping and honey production as a sustainable income-generating additional livelihood option.

Over a period of three years the women learn to rear, nurture and manage the native ‘wild’ Apis Cerana Indica honeybee species for honey production, and support biodiversity conservation by planting fruit trees to increase nectar and pollen resources for bees and other pollinators and increase habitat for wildlife. The outcomes include additional income for women and their families through the sale of honey, increased populations of declining Apis Cerana Indica species, improved pollination for crops grown by farmers in the vicinity and enhanced biodiversity. In the long term and if implemented on a sufficiently large scale these activities may contribute to sustainable land management for mitigating global change.

OUR  2022–2024 PROGRAMME AND ITS OUTCOMES

The World Bee Project CIC initiated a 3-year programme for sustainable additional livelihoods for women facing extreme hardship and adversity. The programme encompassed multiple projects, with substantial sponsorship from Western Digital, Farnell, Avnet, and BBN International. Additional support came from organisations such as Cake Electric Motorcycles, Denman International Limited, and funds raised through The World Bee Community memberships and individual donations. The programme was governed by The World Bee Project CIC and implemented on the ground by its partner, Seeds Trust.

 Outcomes

  • 80 women trained as beekeepers: 40 in the Pandiyar mangroves (1-year training) and 40 in the Ayyalur forest area (3-year training).
  • 600 individual training sessions conducted for the women participants.
  • 700 hives distributed.
  • 700 Apis Cerana Indica bee colonies captured from the forest and distributed.
  • 36 million+ Apis Cerana Indica honeybees introduced into the environment.
  • 6,000 native fruit trees planted to improve nectar and pollen resources for pollinators and other wildlife.
  • 3,000 kilograms of honey produced and sold by the 40 women in Ayyalur, generating approximately £7 per kilogram. (In Pandiyar, the 40 women participated for one year and primarily produced honey for family consumption.)
  • £250 additional income generated annually for each of the 40 families from honey sales. (In comparison, alternative income sources such as unskilled construction work pay as little as £36 annually).

 

Please participate in supporting the interdependencies between bees and people and celebrate your company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) policies.

Open worlds of hope & possibility for women living in adverse conditions.
Please donate and help our programmes to continue.

The World Bee Project programmes for women in adversity are
endorsed
by Human Rights lawyer Professor Phillipe Sands, KC.

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