Shahin Bepari Lambe
Panaji: A 100 per cent women-led Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) has brought together 300 women of Canacona and surrounding areas under a beekeeping initiative.
It has been developed mainly for women from Canacona and surrounding areas of Kushavati district, with the aim of helping them earn an additional income, build confidence and take a stronger role in household and community-level economic decisions.
Women from Gaondongrem, Cotigao, Poinguinim, Shrishthal, Agonda and Loliem have so far been covered under the programme.
“Our objective is not only to provide bee boxes but to build a complete livelihood system from training and scientific beekeeping to honey collection, processing, branding and marketing,” said Savita Tawadkar, chairperson of Kushavati Bee Keeping FPO.
It focuses particularly on women with limited access to regular income opportunities who are already involved in agriculture, forest-based activities or household livelihoods. The proposed model is to provide another income source without requiring women to completely change their existing livelihoods. The programme is currently promoting a honey cluster and providing training and capacity building.
The proposed target is around 300 women, with each woman having five bee boxes or colonies. The proposed annual honey production is 40 kg per woman.
“Beekeeping is being considered suitable as it requires relatively limited land and can be combined with existing farming and household activities. Bee boxes can generally be maintained around homes, farms and suitable agricultural areas, allowing their routine management to become part of women’s daily activities,” said Tawadkar.
She said most of the women brought under the FPO were earlier engaged in agriculture, horticulture, household work, wage labour and other traditional rural livelihood activities. “Some also depended on seasonal income from farm and forest-based products,” Tawadkar said.
With proper management, a woman can gradually generate an additional annual income of about Rs 8,000 per bee box, she said.
However, income will depend on the number of boxes, colony strength, flowering seasons, management practices and honey yield.
The FPO will provide training in scientific beekeeping and colony management, guidance on the placement and maintenance of bee boxes, support in establishing colonies and technical assistance in honey harvesting and hygienic handling. It will also support collective honey collection, processing, packaging, quality improvement and branding, besides connecting women with potential markets and buyers.
The initiative will also focus on Goa’s local bee diversity, including Sateri, Poya and Burgulya.
