TİKA Supports the Beekeeping Industry in Tajikistan

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) provided bee families and beekeeping equipment to families in need in the districts of Sangvor and Shahriston in Tajikistan.

As mountains cover 93% of the surface area of Tajikistan, the amount of arable land available in the country is highly limited; however, existing geographical conditions are highly suitable for beekeeping. The suitability of climatic and natural conditions for beekeeping leads families to beekeeping. While the country has the potential of 1 million beehives, there are currently 223,200 beehives in the country.

As part of the Tajikistan Beekeeping Development Program, launched by TİKA, 25 families in need in the district of Sangvor, located in southeastern Tajikistan, and the district of Shahriston, located in the north, were provided with 20 beehives each and the necessary equipment for beekeeping. Furthermore, 25 beehives and other necessary tools and equipment were delivered to the Romit Veterans and Retirees Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, affiliated with the Agency for Social Insurance and Pensions of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Tajikistan. As part of the project, a total of 525 beehives were distributed, and 5-day basic training courses on beekeeping were organized for beneficiary families.

As the districts of Sangvor and Shahriston, where beehives were distributed, are the leading districts of the country in beekeeping, a beekeeping training center was established in each of these districts in order to ensure the continuity of training.

The delivery ceremony of the project for beekeeping, which is an important economic activity for Tajikistan, was attended by İbrahim Erbir, TİKA’s Dushanbe Coordinator; Muzaffar Halimov, Head of the Agency for Apiculture Development and Support of the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan; mayors of Sangvor and Shahriston; and local press members.

In his speech at the ceremony, İbrahim Erbir, TİKA’s Dushanbe Coordinator, stated that Tajikistan is an ideal country for beekeeping due to its geographical conditions and that beehives were delivered to 26 families as part of the “Tajikistan Beekeeping Development Program,” launched by TİKA. Noting that the purpose of the project was to help these families to establish small businesses, Erbir said, “Now, 26 small enterprises are active and started production. Our project will make a great economic contribution to 26 families and provide them with a regular source of income.”

Muzaffar Halimov, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan, stated that the Minister of Agriculture of Tajikistan was personally interested in TİKA’s project, which provides significant support for the two districts. He thanked TİKA and the people of Turkey for this project and underlined that they wished to continue to collaborate with TİKA in this field in the coming years.