Harvesting honey in Afghanistan raises hopes for a sweeter future

Hadia and her husband were refugees in Iran who have been struggling to support their family in Dehzaq village, in western Herat province, since returning to Afghanistan several years ago. It is an impoverished rural area and, like most families here, they have no regular work and many debts.

“We face a lot of problems,” says the 25-year-old. “When your financial situation isn’t good, you can’t improve your life or ensure your children’s future. You can’t buy things for them like clothing and food or support their education.”

So, when the chance arose to take part in a beekeeper training programme, and with women encouraged to apply, Hadia leapt at the opportunity. Since the de facto authorities took power three years ago, women in Afghanistan have faced increasing restrictions on their right to work, travel and study, severely limiting their participation in public life and their ability to earn a living.

“I have long had a dream to stand on my feet and have a job,” says Hadia. “We are so happy to have this opportunity, and we are determined to use it.”

She lives in one of five villages in Guzara district where 50 participants – 38 of them women – are learning how to keep bees. The project is being run by the Women Activities and Social Services Association (WASSA), a partner of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which brought in local beekeeping experts as trainers. Each participant received protective clothing and start-up kits including frames, a honey extractor, and five hives each containing around 70,000 honeybees.

As well as learning how to care for the bees, participants are provided with the knowledge and skills to start their own businesses selling honey and byproducts such as beeswax, royal jelly and propolis (a resin-like material produced by bees which is often used to fight bacteria and viruses). Support is also provided to help them establish markets for their products.

With the project also being run in central and eastern regions of Afghanistan, a total of 200 people are receiving training under the programme, with support from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund, the Islamic Development Bank and the Saudi Fund for Development.

While rural villages are often regarded as conservative, the participation of women has been welcomed by communities since the work can be carried out close to home, often involves other family members and has clear economic benefits.

In Kala Gerd village, 54-year-old mother of seven, Halima, another former refugee in Iran, has struggled since her husband became too sick to work and a series of devastating earthquakes that struck Herat province last October damaged their house and crops. But after taking part in the beekeeping training, her first honey harvest has yielded 26 kilogrammes of honey, and she is looking forward to becoming the family’s main breadwinner. “My family are so proud and happy that their mother has a job and soon, an income,” she smiles.

She will use her profits to buy food and clothes for the family, but she also plans to invest in more hives. Her biggest concern now is protecting her bees from pests, especially giant hornets. Clutching a broom, she demonstrates how she deals with the hornets – fearlessly beating them with the twigs. “I have to crush them, otherwise they’ll kill my bees,” she says. “Our bees will be our main source of income, and I’m determined to look after them.”

Beyond helping to sustain individual families, the project has broader benefits for these rural communities where most people make a living from farming. Bees contribute to local biodiversity and are important pollinators, points out WASSA’s beekeeping project supervisor, Jalil Ahmad Frotan, who has been keeping bees for 13 years, and has around 100 hives of his own.   

“Research has proved that if we put hives, for example in an apple orchard, we can increase our yield by five times. So, it is very important that we extend this kind of project, and we share the benefits of pollination with our farmers. 

“There is no food without bees,” he adds.

In the same village as Halima, father-of-10, Hafizulla, also a refugee returnee, said the project has given him new purpose and drive. “I was jobless and depressed. Beekeeping is keeping me very busy; I plan to continue this and expand my bees.

“Hopefully, it can help create a better life for my family –our life can become sweeter, like honey.”