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Bees get economy 'buzzing' in Bazarak District

  • Published
  • By Capt. Jillian Torango
  • Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team
PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan --  One Hundred fifty bee boxes were delivered to Bazarak District Sept. 17 as part of an overall $180,000 province-wide project to help both the local economy and boost agricultural production.

Seventy-five needy families in each of the six lower districts throughout Panjshir will each receive two of the $200 bee boxes, training, a centrifuge and protective equipment. Bazarak is the fourth district to receive the bees.

"We worked together and were successful in bringing the bee project to Panjshir," said Hashmat-Ullah Enyat, the Provincial Director of Agriculture. "We've already delivered the bees to Anaba, Rokha, and Shotul districts, today we do Bazarak and we'll do the last two districts soon."

Although many people think of bees as a nuisance, the necessity of having bees in a struggling subsistence economy is not lost on the citizens of Panjshir.

"In agriculture, the bees are most necessary. They help all of the agriculture grow faster," said Mr. Mir Weis the beekeeper overseeing the distribution of the bees. "The bees are the main ingredient in the pollination process and they are always good to have around the crops. Successful and plentiful pollination is crucial to getting a good strong crop."

Mr. Gregory Schlenz, a U.S. Department of Agriculture representative with the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team agrees with Mr. Weis and has been working hand-in-hand with the PRT's Civil Affairs Team and the Province's Director of Agriculture to get the bees into the province.

"In my travels I have not seen many native bees in Panjshir. Just today I was standing in a field of clover that should have been abuzz with bees--yet there were none, and that's not good," said Mr. Schlenz. "These bees will provide better pollination for all of the crops in Panjshir to include the vegetables and the numerous fruit orchards that the Panjshir Province is famous for."

Not only will the bees help increase the province's agricultural yield, they will eventually increase local employment and the economic capacity as well.

"Our main requirement was that these boxes went to the neediest people in each district," said Enyat. "Many of the provincial line directors and district governors worked together to make a list of the 75 most needy families in each district capable of maintaining the bees."

The project is so important that Mr. Ihsaanullah, the head of Panjshir's Provincial Council was on hand at the ceremony.

"We hope that these families were trained well and hopefully this project will encourage them to do more for themselves and also for the growth of the economy," said Mr. Ihsaanullah.

Each colony is expected to produce approximately 10 kilos of honey after the first year. This means that the district of Bazarak could possibly see 1,500 kilos of honey once they start to produce.

"As these hives grow the first year the production goes back into the hive to help build the colony," said Mr. Schlenz. "In the second year the beekeeping families will start to get the benefit of the extra honey to either eat or sell and that's when the economic impact of the bees will start to be seen."

The average price of a kilo of honey Panjshiri shops runs anywhere from $10 to $15. This means that there is the possibility of bringing anywhere from $15,000 to $22,000 per year into a district's economy once the hives start to produce.

"This is just the beginning of a profitable new industry in Panjshir that will have an immediate impact on the families who get the bee boxes, and a continuous tangible impact on the local economy," said Capt. Jayson Stewart, Panjshir PRT's Director of Operations who represented the PRT at the event.

The continuous tangible impact is what government officials are hoping for.

Four hundred fifty families throughout the province will receive the 900 bee boxes. But the Director of Agriculture hopes that the benefit will not end with those 450.

"Once these families have worked with the bees for a year, they will be able to teach others how to work with them as well," said Mr. Enyat. "This a great success story for both the agriculture sector and the economy in Panjshir."