Implementation and equipment for the bee-farming subprojects in the San Clemente, Angla and Pucalpa communities of Imbabura Province

Project Information -

Total project cost:
Subproject San Clemente: Total investment, USD 24 775.00; investment in bees (beehives, equipment and other material), USD 13,390.00, or 54% of the total investment.
Subproject Pucalpa: Total investment, USD 22,061.00; investment in bees (beehives, equipment and other material), USD 7 266.00, or 32.9% of the total investment.
Subproject Angla: Total investment, USD 5 576.00; investment in bees (beehives, equipment and other material) USD 2 114.00, or 37.9% of the total investment.
The total investment includes technical assistance, skilled labour, plants and inputs for agroforestry systems, and overhead, among others.

Duration: Project implementation lasted approximately 14 months. The subprojects are expected to run for an undetermined period.

Area: The project is divided into three subprojects in three different districts 1. Canton: Ibarra; Parish: La Esperanza; Community: San Clemente; 2. Canton: Cotacachi; Parish: Imantag; Community: Pucalpa; 3. Canton: Otavalo; Parish: San Pablo; Community: Angla. All three subprojects are located in Imabura province, in the northern sierra (highlands) area, about 100 km north of Quito, between 2 800 and 3 600 m above sea level. The weather is cold, with temperatures from 10 to 14º C, and 700 to 1 400 mm annual rainfall.

The area is densely populated, mainly by indigenous peoples. All the people are mainly subsistence farmers. They earn additional incomes from small livestock keeping, handicrafts and work for local flower growers, in other cities in Ecuador and even abroad.

Despite important human intervention in the area, some traces of the ancient Andean forest remain, including relatively untouched native plant cover. The scarcity of farmland significantly constrains development in all three communities. Imbabura province shows one of the highest proportions of small landholdings in Ecuador. Expensive inputs and the limited competitiveness of farm products in local and national markets (mainly because products flow into Ecuador from Colombia across the northern border) reduce the overall competitiveness of agricultural produce. Bee-keeping is a complementary economic activity that taps available community resources (plants) and creates jobs for household members, especially for women, who do not have many job opportunities.

Beneficiaries

According to the investment guidelines of the funding organization, which are linked to the Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian Peoples’ Development Project (Prodepine), the beneficiary communities must be rural indigenous or Afro-Ecuadorian people. The beneficiaries of the bee farms subprojects live in grass-roots indigenous communities that are grouped in second-tier organizations. The beneficiary communities selected are the San Clemente community (100 households and 600 persons); the Angla community (378 households and 1 250 persons) and the Pucalpa community (45 households and 225 persons). All consist of poor indigenous families that have access to some social infrastructure services, but face serious constraints in accessing revenue, education, health and nutrition. They rank among the poorest households in the countryside.

Back to Top

Objectives

The overall objective that warranted joint investment in these three subprojects was to contribute to an increase in the incomes of indigenous households through the rational use of available natural resources, thereby helping to alleviate poverty among indigenous rural communities.

The specific objectives were as follows:

1. increase household revenues through the introduction of bee-keeping as a productive activity;
2. use honey and other by-products of the farm to enhance household nutrition;
3. improve the agricultural productivity of certain crops thanks to crop pollination by bees;
4. contribute to reforestation and replanting of vegetation in non-agricultural areas around the communities so as to help feed the bees;
5. promote organic and agro-ecological production in the communities in order to prevent bee deaths caused by pesticides; and
6. increase job opportunities and reduce out-migration among indigenous rural families.

Back to Top

Activities

The following methodological steps were followed in setting up the subprojects:

1. local planning with second-tier organizations whereby communities prioritized the bee-keeping subprojects;
2. the design and approval of investment feasibility profiles for the bee-keeping subprojects;
3. the design and approval of investment feasibility projects for the bee-keeping subprojects;
4. the socialization of subprojects in beneficiary communities;
5. the establishment of cooperation and joint funding agreements between Prodepine and the communities;
6. the setting up of bee farms;
7. the training of beneficiaries in operations and administrative skills; and
8. the operation by beneficiaries of the subprojects.

Back to Top

Outcomes

The projects are openly and generously recognized for the advantages they have brought to the communities. In particular, the availability of honey to improve family nutrition is appreciated, as well as the greater revenues from the sale of surplus products and by-products. Although, admittedly, issues persist around community organization and the internal understanding of project management, the beneficiary communities have clearly changed their attitudes and now have a stronger feeling of ownership of the bee-keeping projects.

The results of these three productive subprojects can be summarized as follows:

1. Twenty-eight beehives installed and operating on Pucalpa community land; 45 beehives installed and operating on Angla community land; 120 beehives installed and operating among San Clemente community households and groups; (in San Clemente, community growth has been so significant that some producers must take their beehives to neighboring communities);
2. all three communities possess functioning bee-keeping and honey extraction and handling equipment;
3. in San Clemente community, a workshop builds and prepares beehives, and another workshop bottles honey;
4. the San Clemente community has obtained a health authorization for the sale of honey;
5. all three communities, together with other private producers, are starting the Imbabura Bee-Keepers Association to gather, process and sell their products so as to avoid middlemen and share technical training and assistance; and
6. a significant, though not quantified outcome, is reforestation and the setting up of several household agroforestry plots in the participating communities.

Back to Top

Organizations and People

Back to Top

Inputs and Infrastructure

Back to Top

Risk Management

Back to Top

Rangeland Resources

Back to Top

Livestock Health

Back to Top

Lessons Learned

1. The implementation of the bee-keeping projects indirectly promotes reforestation and the re-vegetation of degraded land and provides an opportunity to foster the creation of agroforestry plots on the farms. In addition, to avoid the impact of pesticides on bees, the communities encourage organic or agro-ecological production practices.

2. Bee-keeping is an economic activity requiring relatively little investment and can be easily managed by households. Women became interested, and many installed beehives on their farms.

3. Honey production in the communities provides an opportunity to improve family nutrition. Honey consumption in the communities continues to expand. Occasionally slow market demand is not a concern as households will rather keep the honey for family use.

4. The establishment and promotion of microprojects among families and interest groups in the communities fosters community organization through associations such as the Imbabura Bee-Keepers Association, which is currently being registered.

5. The community management of productive projects is not a success. When enterprises are community based, nobody is responsible for operations or the care of the project. Nor is there a fund for maintenance or replacement. Interest remains alive while the project makes money; otherwise, lack of interest, apathy and neglect appear. This is even more obvious when investments are fully subsidized. An apparent solution could involve working with interest groups through a joint investment arrangement. Although this was not the option in these subprojects and in spite of the latter’s shortcomings, the initiatives are still running after almost two years.

Best Practice: Lesson 1

Back to Top

Project Reports

1. Local planning reports. These include planning results at the local level, as well as the priorities for and need to implement bee-keeping subprojects.

2. Pre-investment reports. These include basic documents that substantiate the investment to be made. They are prepared by specialized technical staff.

3. Budget charts. Unit price analyses, disbursement schedules and joint investments (the matching investments of Prodepine and the communities).

4. Training plans and programmes. Including terms of reference for hiring trainers, technical proposals, guidelines and support materials for training, and training reports.

5. Follow-up reports. Prepared by the project head and supervisor and Prodepine’s follow-up official.

6. Legal documents. Agreements with the beneficiary community; documents certifying the legal status of the beneficiary community.

7. Closure minutes. A legal document describing the project and its outcomes, the tasks undertaken and the will of the parties to conclude the joint financing agreement.

Back to Top