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| Date post: | 14-Jul-2015 |
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Our Vision Our vision is of an ethical, equitable, inclusive and progressive society in which people live with dignity and have power over their own lives.
Our Mission Our mission is to enable and empower communities to be independent by facilitating equitable access to opportunities, through Economic Development, Human Capital Development and Social Protection programs.
Our Values Hashoo Foundation draws on the values of equity, inclusivity, transparency, innovation, integrity, respect and fulfillment.
About Us Hashoo Foundation is a progressive and dynamic non-‐profit organization, leading the way in human development and poverty alleviation by implementing viable economic development, educational and capacity building programs in Pakistan. Hashoo Foundation USA works locally to raise awareness, promote intercultural relations and understanding, as it builds partnerships with other non-‐profit and professional organizations, private sector and concerned individuals to promote the Foundation’s programs and increase its fundraising capacity to help support the Hashoo Foundation’s economic development, education, skills development and humanitarian assistance programs.
Hashoo Foundation USA is a non-‐profit organization under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code EIN 20-‐0748173 and is registered with the following registration authorities:
-‐ Trust Act 1882 vide Registration No 661 Sub-‐Registrar T-‐Div II Karachi dated 16/07/1988 -‐ Exempted from Taxes with approval by CBR under SRO 169(1)/2005 notified/published in Gazette of Pakistan dated 15/02/2005 under clause (3) of clause (58) -‐ Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy 2011 registration -‐ Charities Commission in the UK
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Contents
Acronyms .................................................................................................................................................... 1
1-‐ Project Summary ................................................................................................................................. 2
2-‐ Project Goal ......................................................................................................................................... 3
3-‐ Project Activities Under Taken ........................................................................................................... 4
Phase I ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
3.1 Culture Shock Charity Show for Plan Bee ................................................................................... 4
Phase II .................................................................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Community Mobilization ............................................................................................................ 5
3.3 Training and Technical Support .................................................................................................. 6
3.4 Plan Bee Houston Honey Business Group .................................................................................. 8
3.5 Distribution of Beehives and Production Kits ............................................................................. 9
3.6 Installation of Beehives ............................................................................................................ 10
3.7 Monitoring Visits to the Project ............................................................................................... 11
3.8 Honey Extraction ...................................................................................................................... 12
3.9 Honey Production .................................................................................................................... 15
Phase III ................................................................................................................................................. 16
3.10 Packaging ............................................................................................................................... 16
3.11 Branding and Marketing ........................................................................................................ 17
3.12 Plan Bee Honey Packaging and Price ..................................................................................... 17
3.13 Honey Sale ............................................................................................................................. 20
3.14 Presentation of Checks to the New Refugee Women Beekeepers ....................................... 20
4-‐ Output and Achievements of the Project ......................................................................................... 21
5-‐ Challenges and Assumptions ............................................................................................................ 22
6-‐ Lessons Learned ................................................................................................................................ 22
7-‐ Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 22
Annexure 1 – Budget Summary ................................................................................................................ 23
Annexure 2 – Contributions ...................................................................................................................... 24
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Acronyms
AMCS Alliance for Multicultural Community Services
HF Hashoo Foundation
HF USA Hashoo Foundation USA
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1-‐ Project Summary
Project Title Plan Bee Houston Honey Business Group -‐ Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Project
Implementing Partners Hashoo Foundation USA (HF USA) Alliance for Multicultural Community Services (AMCS)
Partners
-‐ Klein Forest High School Pakistani-‐Indian Student Association (PISA)
-‐ Xavier Educational Academy -‐ Lee High School Interact Club & ROTC -‐ Clements High School Interact -‐ Sharpstown International School Capstone
International Program -‐ Rotaract Galleria -‐ Chapelwood Foundation Community Grant -‐ Neighborhood Seeds for Change -‐ Talento Bilingue of Houston -‐ Mayor's Office of Education Initiatives & Mayor’s
Volunteer Initiatives Program -‐ Citizenship Month -‐ Community College International Program (CCIP) -‐ Powerful Women International (PWI)
Area of Implementation Guy, Texas
Total Number of Direct Beneficiaries 5 Refugee women
Total Number of Indirect Beneficiaries 25 family members
Facilitator Cristal Montañéz Baylor, Executive Director, HF USA
Project Manager Narayan Dhurali, Training & Production Coordinator AMCS
Implementing Team HF USA & AMCS
Technical Support County Extension – Spring Green Farm Project Fort Bend County Extension Agent-‐ Horticulture, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Project Duration November 2013 -‐ December 2014
Projected Budget $10,900
Country USA
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2-‐ Project Goal The overall goal of the project was to replicate in Houston Hashoo Foundation ’s globally recognized Women Empowering through Honey Bee Farming Project “Plan Bee” to empower 5 refugee women in beekeeping to enable them earn a secondary income through the sale of honey.
The refugee women are part of the Alliance for Multicultural Community Services (AMCS) Community Garden Program. AMCS is a non-‐profit organization dedicated to help refugees, immigrants, and low-‐income residents of Harris County become self-‐sufficient and improve their quality of life. The women are trained as farmers and sell the vegetables they produce to the market. However, the income they earn is not enough. Developing the proposed honey micro-‐enterprises will help these refugee women earn a secondary income and improve their quality of life.
To achieve this goal, Hashoo Foundation USA (HF USA) partnered with the Alliance for Multicultural Community Services refugee settlement, Chapelwood Foundation, Neighborhood Centers Seed for Change, Houston students, and community organizations.
HF USA and AMCS worked together to build the capacity of 5 refugee women and facilitate the needs of the project in accordance to the MOU signed by both organizations. HF USA created the business plan, raised the funds to provide the equipment needed to initiate the Plan Bee Honey Business Group pilot project to empower 5 refugee women in honey bee farming, facilitated the branding, marketing and sale of the honey. AMCS managed the project, identify and recruited 5 refugee women, trained them in honey bee farming, transported the refugee women every two weeks to the farm and partnered with County Extension – Spring Green Farm Project Fort Bend County Extension Agent -‐ Horticulture, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
The aim of the project was to:
-‐ Train and build the capacity of 5 refugee women in Houston in honey bee farming. -‐ Organize the refugee beekeepers in a Honey Business Group. -‐ Distribute 20 beehives, 20 bee boxes with queens, 5 productions kits and one extractor. -‐ Enable the refugee women earn a secondary income through the sale of honey.
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3-‐ Project Activities Under Taken
Phase I
3.1 Culture Shock Charity Show for Plan Bee Hashoo Foundation USA has provided Houston students with a platform to engage in sustainable micro-‐enterprises to help women become self-‐sufficient as they develop a compassionate and philanthropic perspective of the global community. In November 2013, the Culture Shock Charity Show for Plan Bee led by Klein Forest High School PISA, brought together over seventy students from Lee High School Interact Club & ROTC, Xavier Educational Academy Interact Club, Clements High School Interact Club and Sharpstown International School Senior Capstone International, volunteers and community organizations worked together to put on a truly international Show. The students and participants representing 22 countries with diverse cultural backgrounds and faiths, including Albania, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Venezuela and United worked together and raised $5,000.00 to help empower 5 refugee women in honey bee farming. This initiative was part of Houston's Citizenship Month 2013 celebrations.
Chapelwood Foundation and Neighborhood Centers Seed for Change partnered with Hashoo Foundation to support the development and implementation of this youth led pilot project in Houston to benefit women's micro enterprise. Chapelwood Foundation awarded a Community Grant for $2,000 and Neighborhood Centers Seed for Change granted a Community Grant for $1,500.
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The funds raised were invested in 20 beehives, 20 bee packages and queens, 20 super boxes, 20 bee feeders, 5 productions kits, each one of them included (complete one piece bee-‐suit, beekeeping gloves, bee smoker, hive tool, bee brush, uncapping knife, wax pan, bottling bucket kits) and one extractor.
Phase II
3.2 Community Mobilization AMCS recruited women who have experienced barriers to long-‐term employment in the US. The challenges that many newly arrived refugee women face in the job market may include limited English proficiency, childcare needs, and a lack of formal education. Criteria for Women’s Selection
-‐ Lowest income household. -‐ Age between 40 and 64 years old. -‐ Date of arrival in the USA as refugee beginning in January 2010 up to date.
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-‐ Availability and willingness to get involved. -‐ Lowest education and literacy level. -‐ Project began with Bhutanese and Nepalese women. Other ethnic groups will join as the project
develops.
Refugee women Pabitra Giri, Ambika Acharya, Chandra Magar, Mom Acharya and Khina Darjee were selected to participate in Plan Bee Honey Business Group pilot project.
3.3 Training and Technical Support AMSC trained the refugee women in honey bee farming, extraction and packaging. Fort Bend County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services and local beekeepers worked closely with the AMCS Project Coordinator to ensure the quality of the beehives and honey production, and that best practices were followed.
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The Fort Bend county agents supplied the equipment to tests the moisture of the honey to ensure that all honey produced is of a high quality.
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3.4 Plan Bee Houston Honey Business Group The refugee women were organized under the Plan Bee Houston Honey Business Group following the model implemented by HF in Pakistan.
Under this model, the Plan Bee Houston Honey Business Group owns the equipment and the beehives, which are allocated to the 5 refugee women. In case one of the refugee women decides to leave the Business Group, AMCS will be able to recruit another refugee woman in her place. This approach is cost effective, easily managed, provides the Business Group members the opportunity to share knowledge, and minimizes risk factors as the women increase their capacity to face challenges collectively. The Plan Bee Honey Business Group motivates the members of the group to develop and adopt strategies collectively to promote the sustainability of their enterprises.
Women beekeepers in Pakistan
New refugee women beekeepers in Houston
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3.5 Distribution of Beehives and Production Kits On April 26, 2014, 20 beehives, production kits and extractor were presented to the Plan Bee Honey Business Group and allocated among the 5 new refugee beekeepers.
Good protective clothing such as bee-‐suit, gloves and head protector gave the beginner beekeepers confidence.
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3.6 Installation of Beehives On May 5, 2014, Narayan Dhurali, Training & Production Coordinator AMCS and Mr. Tim, Peter's Farm foreman, installed the 20 beehives at Peter’s Farm, located in Fort Bend County in Guy, Texas.
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3.7 Monitoring Visits to the Project The new trained refugee beekeepers under the supervision of Narayan Dhurali visited and monitored the beehives every two weeks.
2014 Harvest Period The beekeepers inspected their beehives regularly to know when the colonies were ready for harvesting. Considering that the honey-‐harvesting period starts a few weeks after blooming and by then the honey should be ripe and ready for harvesting. The beekeepers observed for the following signs:
-‐ Bees becoming aggressive while guarding the beehive because they can sting at the slightest provocation.
-‐ Presence of worker bees outside the hive in large numbers.
Routine Management
-‐ Honey bee colonies were inspected every two weeks to make sure bees were in good condition and the colonies had adequate temperature to help increase honey producers and decreasing the tendency to swarming in order to keep multiplying/increasing the number of colonies in the beehives.
-‐ The beehives were cleaned and free of water leaks. -‐ Checked for any abnormal behavior of bees at the entrance since their behavior can indicate too
much heat or beehive is full of combs or bees want to swarm. -‐ Checked if the beehives were stable or needed any repairs to keep them in optimal condition.
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3.8 Honey Extraction The refugee beekeepers were blessed with favorable weather conditions and abundant honey production yields during their first honey season. Honey yield fluctuates from one year to another and varies between colonies. The average production of honey per mature and established beehives is approximately 40 lbs.
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Uncapping Honey Frames Beeswax is a product of the honey bee. It is produced from the bee's own body during the warm period of the day. The bee uses wax to build the comb cells in which its brood is reared, and also the cells in which honey and pollen are stored. Honey bees preserve the honey by capping it in wax cells. To extract the honey, the tops of the cells, or caps, need to be removed. Bees to produce 1 pound of beeswax consume about 5 to 7 pounds of honey.
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The color and flavor of honey differs depending on the nectar source (the blossoms) visited by the honey bees. In fact, there are more than 300 unique types of honey available in the United States, each originating from a different floral source. Honey color ranges from nearly colorless to dark brown, and its flavor vary from delectably mild to distinctively bold, depending on where the honey bees buzzed. In SE Texas the nectar from rag weeds and golden rod flowers makes the honey darker. As a general rule, light-‐colored honey is milder in taste and dark-‐colored honey is stronger.
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3.9 Honey Production The beehives of the Plan Bee Houston Business Group produced 284 lbs. from 19 out of 20 beehives newly established hives. It is important to mention that not all the frames in the beehives were ready to be harvested in this first season. The beekeepers are expecting at least two harvests in 2015 weather permits.
Plan Bee Honey Business Group Production Chart
Extraction Dates Quantity Produced No. of Beehives 10/31/2014 80 lbs. 5 11/7/2014 120 lbs. 9 12/16/2014 84 lbs. 4 284 lbs. 19
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Phase III
3.10 Packaging The Plan Bee honey is processed locally and packed in food graded glass jars by the new refugee women beekeepers, HF USA and AMCS volunteers.
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3.11 Branding and Marketing
Hashoo Foundation USA created the labels and determined the price of the Plan Bee honey based on the Houston Market Research prepared by Elena Penso, Marketing Consultant volunteer. The main objective was to create an attractive label and packaging to compete in the market place. Another, important consideration was to inform the buyers that the production and sale of Plan Bee honey directly benefited the refugee women beekeepers. Honey prices in our local market tend to be higher when the honey is being produced and marketed by a non-‐profit organization. Prices fluctuate between $7 and $12 dollars for 8oz to 12oz. jars. The average retail price for honey in Texas is $6.37 and wholesale price $4.98 for 16 oz.(September 2014). It is important to take into consideration bottle size and material (Glass vs. Plastic) to pack and market honey in order to increase profits. According to the Harris County Bee Keeper Association, experienced honey producers suggested the use of plastic 16 oz. bottles instead of glass in order to minimize costs and increase profits. However when researching for this market analysis we found out that 8oz glass jars are cost effective instead of the 16 oz. bottles when used to target the most affluent and upscale buyers. Suggested price for a 16 oz. bottle is $12 in comparison to 8oz bottle, which can range from $8 to $10.
3.12 Plan Bee Honey Packaging and Price The AMCS projected to sell the pound (16 oz.) of honey at $10 per jar under the packaging. Below.
AMCS Plan Bee Cost & Profit/16 oz./ Jar Cost/16ozJar
/Lid Labels Bee Fabric String Cost/Finish Jar
Sales Price/9oz Profit
0.70 0 0 0 0.70 10.00 9.30
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HF USA created a new packaging and labels and raised the price of the 16 oz. glass jar of Plan Bee honey from $10 to $13 increasing the profit by $2.33. HF USA Plan Bee Cost & Profit Projection/16 oz./ Jar
Cost/16oz Jar/Lid Labels Bee Fabric String Cost/Finish
13oz Jar Sales
Price/9oz Profit Profit
Increment/ 16 oz Jar
0.70 0.42 0.19 0.06 1.37 13.00 11.63 2.33
and Introduced the 9 oz. at $10 per jar. HF USA Plan Bee Cost & Profit /9 oz Jar
Cost/9ozJar/ Lid Labels Bee Fabric String Cost/Finish
9oz Jar Sales
Price/9oz Profit
1.04 0.42 0.19 0.06 1.71 10.00 8.29
HF USA determined the price of the Plan Bee honey and the size of the jars based on the results of the Houston Market Research and by comparing the prices of the honey of other local non-‐profit organizations and the most popular honey sold in the commercial retail market.
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Plan Bee Honey Label
Front Back
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3.13 Honey Sale The first 200 lbs. of Plan Bee honey were sold as follows:
-‐ 100 lbs. to Marathon Oil Company for Christmas gifts (120 9 oz. jars). -‐ 100 lbs. in 9 oz. and 16 oz. jars to individuals for gifts.
The 120 9 oz. jars of Plan Bee honey sold to Marathon Oil Company were presented to 50 Non-‐profit organizations and other corporate partners at the Marathon Oil Community giving the project great visibility in the community. Plan Bee honey is for sale at the AMCS located at 6440 Hillcroft Avenue Suite 411. Houston, TX 77081 In two sizes:
-‐ 9 oz. jar at $10 -‐ 16 oz. jar at $13
3.14 Presentation of Checks to the New Refugee Women Beekeepers On January 20, 2015, Yani Keo Rose, Executive Director AMCS and Cristal Montañéz Baylor, Executive Director HF USA, presented the new beekeepers with the checks from the sale of Plan Bee Honey. AMCS hosted the ceremony. Community members and other organizations attended this exciting and important moment.
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Both organizations encouraged the beekeepers to invest 30% of their earning back into the growth of their honey producing business by acquiring more beehives to increase their production.
4-‐ Output and Achievements of the Project - 5 Refugee women identified, mobilized and organized in Plan Bee Houston Honey Business Group. - 5 Refugee women trained in beekeeping, honey production and best practices. - 20 Beehives provided to Plan Bee Houston Honey Business Group. 4 beehives allocated to
each one of the beekeeper. - 5 Productions kits (complete bee suit, beekeeping gloves, bee smoker, hive tool, bee brush,
uncapping knife, wax pan) provided to each beekeeper. - 1 Extractor provided for Plan Bee Houston Honey Business Group. - 284 lbs of honey extracted from October 31 to December 16, 2014. - Plan Bee honey brand developed. - Refugee women linked to profitable markets. - 200 lbs of honey sold. - 25 indirect beneficiaries.
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5-‐ Challenges and Assumptions -‐ Proposed honey production of 40 lbs. per beehive could not be achieved due to the unusual
cold weather from January to April 2014, which caused the installation of the beehives to be postponed until the beginning of May shortening the honey production season.
-‐ Transportation of the refugee women to the farm every two weeks created a burden to AMCS due to high prices of gasoline in 2014.
-‐ The bee colonies are growing faster then expected. More super boxes (beehives) and bee feeders are needed to host the growing colonies to prevent swarming.
6-‐ Lessons Learned HF USA and AMCS observed the following:
- Refugee women were motivated to improve their socio-‐economic conditions. - Refugee women showed great enthusiasm and forthcoming attitude to learn more about honey bee
farming techniques to upgrade their businesses. - Trained refugee beekeepers played an important role in creating an enabling environment in their
communities to help to promote diversity and tolerance. - Honey bee keeping is a model of civil society enterprise development. Beekeepers learned how bees
are organized and have specific role to play in producing honey. With a clear understanding of team work, specific tasks to achieve a desirable results and participating in the tasks can lead to an organized society among the people particularly women and other partners like shops keepers, traders and suppliers.
7-‐ Conclusion Honey bee farming is a lucrative income generating enterprise. The Plan Bee Houston Honey Business Group enabled Pabitra, Ambika, Chandra, Mom and Khina earn a secondary income. As a result, the new beekeepers are empowered and more confident as they gained more economic independence and financial management skills. The Plan Bee Houston Business Group promotes two of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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Annexure 1 – Budget Summary
Code Equipment Requirements Quantity/ Beekeeper
Total Quantity
Total Amount
1.0 Beehives 1.1 Packaged Bees 4 20 2,700.00 Sub-‐total 2,700.00
2.0 Production Kits
2.1 Assembled Hive (Box that houses the bees/brood) 4 20 2,200.00
2.2 Assembled Super (Box that houses honey chamber) 4 20 1,015.00
2.3 Queen Excluder Screen 4 20 299.00
2.4 Bee Suits Since (Texas bees are “Africanized” it is recommended to buy complete one-‐piece suits) 1 5 357.50
2.5 Beekeeping Gloves 2 10 104.50
2.6 Bee Smokers (Bees must be “Smoked” to calm them for the beekeeper to work the hive) 1 5 196.50
2.7 Hive Tool (Breaks open the hive and helps remove the brood/honey frames) 1 5 58.00
2.8 Bee Brush Tool Gently sweep the bees away from the frames) 1 5 21.75
2.9 Uncapping Knife (Comb cutter cuts the caps off the wax cells to extract the honey) 1 5 117.50
2.10 Wax Pan (Special pan for reclaiming the hive’s wax) 1 5 135.00
2.11 Bottling Bucket Kit (5 gallon bucket for filling retail bottles w/1.5" gate) 1 5 185.00
Sub-‐total 4,689.75
3.0 Honey Business Group Honey Processing Basic Equipment
3.1 Stainless Steel Hand-‐Cranked Honey Extractor 1 417.00
3.2 Stainless Steel Storage Tank W/Cover 1 266.75
3.3 Wax Heater (Reclaims beeswax for frame foundations band-‐style for a 5 gallon pail) 1 107.00
Sub-‐total 790.75
4.0 Project Related Expenses 4.1 Honey bottles (each case of 12/ 9 oz. glass jar) 250 200.64 4.2 Gold caps (110 / bag) 2 57.80 4.3 Labels (Design front/back & printing full color) 290.00 4.4 T-‐shirts/posters/postcards/Charity Show misc.) 2,171.06 Sub-‐total 2,738.40 Total 10,900.00
Cost per beekeeper $1,635.10
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Annexure 2 – Contributions
Partners Contributions
1.0 Culture Shock Charity Show 5,000.00 2.0 Chapelwood Foundation Community Grant 2,000.00
3.0 Neighborhood Centers Seeds for Change Grant 1,500.00
4.0 Hashoo Foundation USA 2,400.00
Total 10,900.00 Contact information: Cristal Montañéz Baylor I Executive Director Hashoo Foundation USA M +1 (713) 483-‐4990 F+1 (713) 759-‐0787 www.hashoofoundationusablog.org
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