Bring On The Buzz

The small village of Baghanis is located only a few kilometers away from the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Despite the 1994 ceasefire, clashes at the border are recurring, and civilian populations are caught in the crossfire. The sniper fireprevents the people of Baghanis from being able to safely farm their lands and create the income needed to support their families.

Sahman NGO works closely with villages on the border to help them develop their communities and they identified beekeeping as a profitable and safe way for families to gain additional income. Bring on the Buzz brought 18 families in Baghanis the tools and training to become expert beekeepers. The tools got them started and the training provided by Sahman ensured that they would learn the best practices that would allow them to care for the hives and increase their honey production from year to year.

In addition to providing for themselves, each family has committed to donating 4kg of honey back to the community over the course of two years. In the first year since the completion of this campaign, they were able to donate 20kgs of honey to the military and sell 47kgs to the 1A community. The money raised ($491) was put towards buying equipment for the local kindergarten.