Azerbaijan SLFM_AndreaEgan_Beekeeping-5049

Faced with the stiff challenges of maintaining their competitive advantage in local retail, the rural communities of the Ismayilli and Shamakhi regions continued to rely on simple animal husbandry as their primary source of income.

 

One consequence of this heavy dependence on cattle breeding was overgrazing, which is the primary condition that the GEF-funded Sustainable Land and Forest Management in the Greater Caucasus landscape (SLFM) project has been working to address.

 

 

To decrease the reliance on cattle, the project supported alternative livelihood options – like beekeeping. In partnership with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, and through ABAD (Azerbaijan State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations - Support to Family Business), the project offered small holder family businesses new avenues for broadening their economic pursuits and delivering locally-produced goods to the market.

 

Photo credit: Andrea Egan

 

Link to full story: bit.ly/2m3oY6A

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