Friday, November 7, 2008
Houston, TX
The Women Empowerment Through Honey Bee Farming Project earns Hashoo Foundation (HF) a finalist selection in the BBC World and Newsweek World Challenge 2008, announces the organization, demonstrating it is enterprising and innovative at a grass-roots level while preserving the Earth in the Northern Areas and Chitral (NAC) in Pakistan.
HF strives to alleviate poverty in one of the most vulnerable regions of the world by strengthening the NAC’s income generating opportunities while encouraging entrepreneurship among indigenous producers. Beekeeping is one of the few income opportunities for women in the NAC, and helps to offset the rapid extinction of bees around the world - since last year, an alarming rate of 36.1 percent of commercially managed hives were lost in the U.S. alone.
"We're not interested in just helping women earn more money - we want to see that their children are better educated, have access to healthcare, better sanitation in their homes, and better nutrition," explained Hashoo Foundation Chairwoman, Sarah Hashwani. "Winning this competition will allow the foundation to invest in the machinery and packaging equipment needed to develop this project to its potential.”
The public is encouraged to “Vote” for Hashoo Foundation on the World Challenge 2008 Website from October 1 through November 21, 2008:
http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/html/project08_hashoo.html
“Our objectives are to train women in honey production, and link them into the honey market supply chain support. This is enabling NAC women to generate a stable source of income to provide for themselves and their families; it is also responsible for a fundamental shift in the discrepancy between male and female beekeepers. As a result, women participating in this project have been able to take leadership positions within the region’s key honeybee associations, resulting in a 12% increase in their production, ” reports Executive Director Cristal Montanez Baylor.
Prior to HF’s efforts, issues such as lack of storage facilities, processing equipment, market information and poor access to markets prevented beekeepers from reaching potentially more profitable down-country markets. HF has created an innovative marketing approach to resolve these issues through an extensive and well-established network. The foundation’s instrumental partner in developing the market for the honey is the Hashoo Group of Hotels, comprised of five star hotel chains Marriott and Pearl Continental throughout Pakistan; this partnership is the Group’s socially responsible effort toward uplifting the lives of the rural farmers and their families. The Hashoo Group has discontinued its contract with commercial suppliers, and is paying a 69% premium to purchase this honey. As a result, the household incomes in the NAC region have increased 25% - 30%.
Additionally, the Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Project was a “Featured Commitment” on the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Website during the 2008 Annual Meeting, accessible through this link:
http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=2759&srcid=2762
Hashoo Foundation seeks to share the success of its project with other organizations around the world by partnering with socially responsible corporations that wish to invest technical resources, as well as time, knowledge, equipment, and capital.
About Hashoo Foundation USA Hashoo Foundation U.S.A. is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization chartered in Houston, Texas with the mission of alleviating poverty through economic self-sustenance. The Women Empowerment Through Honey Bee Farming Project is one of various strategies that are being developed to fulfill the founding philanthropic principles of the Hashoo Foundation in Pakistan and beyond. For more information, visit:
www.hashoofoundation.org
