TİKA’s Support to Beekeepers in Azerbaijan

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) set up a honey packaging and bee feed production facility in Sumqayit, Azerbaijan for the beekeepers who migrated from Karabakh.

TİKA established a honey packaging and bee feed production facility in Sumqayit as the final step of the projects and activities that have been carried out since 2008 in order to improve and popularize beekeeping in Azerbaijan. TİKA was providing beekeepers with bee colonies, hives, and beekeeping equipment between the years 2012 and 2018. The facility, which makes sure that these beekeepers can produce their honey products in better conditions and market them by packaging under a brand, was inaugurated with a ceremony.

The facility was established in Sumqayit, an important industrial town in Azerbaijan where migrants from Karabakh had settled down. TİKA provided all infrastructural capabilities, and supplied machinery, equipment, and material. The inauguration ceremony for the facility was attended by Turkish Ambassador to Baku Erkan Özoral, Governor of Qubadli Malik Isaqov, TİKA Baku Program Coordinatorship, Turkish Embassy in Baku, the Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the ‘Easy Support to Family Economies’ Organization (ABAD), officials from the Republic of Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency, representatives from the business world and the media, and the beekeepers who took part in the project.

During his speech at the ceremony, Governor of Qubadli Malik Isaqov expressed his gratitude to Turkey and TİKA for the facility that provides modern production possibilities as well as their support for bee farmers and honey producers from Azerbaijan, especially the migrant beekeepers in the Qubadli district.

Ambassador Özoral, on the other hand, stated that TİKA contributed to the development of the country and the livelihood of the people of Azerbaijan with projects, especially in the agricultural industry. Özoral said, "As Turkey, we try to provide any kind of support for Azerbaijan, whatever they need.”

An aid of 5,510 bee colonies to 515 families in 46 cities

TİKA Baku Program Coordinator Teoman Tiryaki stated that as part of the activities carried out by TİKA since 2008 in order to improve and popularize beekeeping in Azerbaijan, TİKA supported the careers of 515 individuals in beekeeping and TİKA’s aim was to contribute to the revenues of the beekeepers thanks to the new facility. Tiryaki pointed out that these projects, which aim to support beekeeping in Azerbaijan, will also continue in the future.

As part of the “Project on Improving Beekeeping in Azerbaijan” which was initiated between the years 2012 and 2018 with the purpose of improving and popularizing beekeeping in Azerbaijan, it was made sure that beekeeping enterprises were established in an area that covers 75% of the entire land in the country by the end of 2018. According to this project that was carried out in five steps, a total of 5,150 bee colonies were distributed to 515 families in 46 cities that spread out to five regions of Azerbaijan, making sure that they could set up their own beekeeping enterprises.

20 tons of honey and 10 tons of bee feed will be produced annually

Honey packaging and bee feed production units, which were obtained from Turkey, were built in a prefabricated construction which was separated into areas in accordance with the production plan for honey packaging and bee feed. The purpose of this was to support the small-scale beekeepers, especially the ones who had previously benefited from TİKA projects, to package and sell their honey products, and to satisfy their needs for bee feed. By providing the rest of the equipment and material required for production and sales, the new facility for honey packaging and bee feed production was put into the service of beekeepers in 2018.

At the honey packaging facility, which has a minimum annual production capacity of 20 tons, honey products of the beekeepers, most of whom are migrants, were packaged under the brand ‘Karabağlı’ and prepared to be placed on the market. The facility provides the beekeepers with the opportunity to realize products in large quantities without being directly involved in the sales process. Thanks to this facility, the producers will be able to package and sell their honey products in accordance with food legislations by obtaining the required certificates and authorizations. In addition to honey packaging, 10 tons of bee feeds will be produced per year at the facility. This bee feed will provide extra opportunities for the beekeepers to carry out their activities under more favorable conditions.