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ROTARY CLUB: NEIVA LAS CEIBAS
ROTARY DISTRICT: 4281
CITY: NEIVA
PROJECT NAME: SIBERIA CEIBAS, HIVE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
AREAS OF INTEREST: DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL ECONOMIES
BUDGET: USD 171.000
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
Implement in the SIBERIA CEIBAS REGIONAL NATURAL PARK, a natural reserve area, a long-term sustainable structural solution, in order to provide the communities of the Motilón, La Plata, San Miguel, and El Triunfo villages in safe conditions. multidimensional poverty, the opportunity for conscious progress and productive inclusion, which in addition to providing solutions to their short-term needs, manages to diversify the region's economy and strengthen its productive apparatus, through the implementation and consolidation of a sustainable beekeeping project in ideal environmental conditions.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
CR Neiva las Ceibas, in alliance with the community, the Alto Magdalena Regional Corporation CAM, highest environmental authority in the department of Huila, the National Learning Service SENA, the Huila Chamber of Commerce and other strategic allies , will implement a sustainable beekeeping project in the Siberia Ceibas Regional Natural Park with the installation of 20 apiaries with 400 hives for the benefit of 20 families, giving priority to women heads of household and young people affected by poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities. The project will be developed as follows:
1 TRAINING AND EDUCATION: Beneficiaries will receive 280 hours of certified training in beekeeping, offered by SENA. This training will include techniques in apiary management, phytosanitary control, production, collection, packaging and marketing of honey and its derived products (pollen, propolis, earwax and nuclei).
2 INSTALLATION OF APIARIES: With resources from the Subsidy, each family group will receive all the equipment and supplies necessary for the installation and maintenance of twenty hives, including protection, tools for collection and material for packaging and storing the products.
3 CONTINUOUS TECHNICAL ADVICE: The APISRED company, producers and marketers of honey, will offer technical support in the field to guarantee the correct management of the apiaries and the quality of the products.
4 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING: The Huila Chamber of Commerce will train the community in business formalization, associativity and commercial development. In addition, it will provide support to obtain brand registration and the certificate of sole origin, which will allow producers to market their products in the national and international market.
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES
The communities in the Siberia Ceibas Regional Natural Park were victims of the armed conflict for 40 years, suffering the consequences of displacement and impoverishment caused by the war; They own small properties far from Neiva, the closest city. Subsistence agriculture as their source of income, absence of public services, lack of work options, distances with roads in poor condition, absence of medical services, housing conditions, lack of access to education and the conditions of children and youth, place these rural communities in conditions of multidimensional poverty, with per capita income below USD $88.50, the poverty level established for Colombia by the National Department of Statistics DANE.
The execution of the project will allow these needs to be met through the diversification of the local economy, the creation of sustainable employment and comprehensive training in beekeeping, creating the conditions for families to improve their income and quality of life. The honey production levels recorded in the area, plus the current price of the product in the market and environmental conditions, will make it possible to increase family income by 70% per capita. Furthermore, the implementation of project will be a powerful contribution to consolidating peace and stability in a region historically affected by violence.
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
20 families (approximately 120 people) prioritizing women heads of household and young people in vulnerable situations.
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES
The entire local community and the environment will benefit in the long term from the sustainability of the project, the impact on agriculture due to bee pollination processes and a better quality of life.
PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY:
The following reasons guarantee the sustainability of the project
1 Profile of the beneficiaries: The Social Work Directorate of the CAM, with more than 10 years of experience working with the community, will select the beneficiaries with the required profile to maximize the impact of the project.
2 Comprehensive training guaranteed: The training offered by SENA will be mandatory to access the project resources, which will ensure that families have the necessary skills to achieve production with the quantity and quality conditions required by the market.
3 Continuous technical support: Our strategic ally APISRED will provide face-to-face advice to each family for one year, supervising the installation, production and collection processes, which guarantees the quality of the product and the sustainability of the beekeeping enterprise.
4 Favorable environment: The location of the project in a preservation area in a Regional Natural Park guarantees optimal environmental conditions for beekeeping. Additionally, the planting of 32,000 native honey species in the area, funded by a previous Global Grant (GG 2351361), will create a powerful environmental foundation for bee reproduction and conservation.
5 Established marketing: Large-scale bee products marketing companies such as Apiarios El Pinar and the Huila Beekeepers Cooperative COAPI, aware of the environmental conditions of the area, have expressed their interest in purchasing the project's production, ensuring its commercialization.
6 Increase in the level of family income: The community is aware that sustainable beekeeping represents the possibility of improving their living conditions and having the right to dream of a better future through productive work.
IS THE COMMUNITY INVOLVED? DESCRIBE THE ROLE OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTINUITY OF THE PROJECT
From the first visit to the project area, we had the proactive presence of the community, its delegates participated in person in the formulation, planning and structuring stages of the project. The community has an exemplary environmental awareness and is aware of the benefits of the project and its responsibilities.
COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT RESULTS FOR A GLOBAL GRANT
NEIVA LAS CEIBAS ROTARY CLUB
PROJECT: SIBERIA CEIBAS, HIVE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Use this form to inform The Rotary Foundation of the results of your community needs assessment when applying for a global grant.
Assessing the strengths, weaknesses, needs, and assets of the community you plan to help is a critical first step in designing an effective and sustainable block grant-funded project. See Community Needs Assessment Resources for complete instructions and helpful tips.
This form will help you report the results of your community needs assessment, which is a requirement for grant applications for humanitarian projects or vocational training equipment. Complete a separate form for each beneficiary community (for example: school, health system or population), using current and specific information for each of them. Remember that you will not be able to use block grant funds to cover the cost of this evaluation, but you may be able to use district grant funds.
OVERVIEW OF THE COMMUNITY
Describe the characteristics (such as geographic information, main sources of income, population size, and access to education/health services) of the specific community where this project will be carried out.
Population of 2,100 inhabitants located in the Siberia Ceibas Regional Natural Park in the Andes mountain range, department of Huila, a region affected by the armed conflict for more than 40 years. Population in conditions of multidimensional poverty whose main source of income is bread crops that partially satisfy their food needs. In the area there are 10 primary basic education schools, there are no secondary education options. Two health posts, each staffed by a nurse, with a precarious staff, are located in the area.
When you did the assessment, who did you talk to in the community? At least two different community representatives and beneficiaries who are not involved in Rotary (such as teachers, doctors, or community leaders) should be included in the discussions.
On July 10, 2021, with a community meeting in the project area, the needs assessment process began. The technical team of the Alto Magdalena CAM Regional Corporation, environmental authority in charge of managing the Park, attended the meeting. Natural Regional Siberia Ceibas, geographic point of location of the project.
At what point last year were the talks held?
Community meetings in the project area: July 10, 2021, August 6, 2021, November 20, 2021 and March 13, 2023. Three meetings at the Neiva Mayor's Office in January and February 2022 and two meetings at the CAM in July 2023
What methods did you use to gather information from community members (such as community meetings, interviews, or focus groups)?
Four (4) community meetings in the project area, three (3) in-person meetings at the Neiva Mayor's Office and two (2) meetings at the CAM with the attendance of community delegates. Information was received from the Social Work Office of the CAM and the Secretary of Agricultural Development of the Mayor's Office.
TARGET POPULATION
Who will directly benefit from the project? Indicate the groups that will benefit (such as schools, hospitals, vocational training centers, cooperatives or towns).
Population victim of the conflict, peasant families in conditions of multidimensional poverty, located in the villages of La Plata, El Triunfo, San Miguel and Motilón in the Siberia Ceibas Regional Natural Park, native to the area. In the selection of beneficiaries, priority is given to women and young people.
Describes the process used to identify beneficiaries
The Social Work office of our ally, the CAM, with more than 10 years of experience working with the community, will select the beneficiaries according to a profile provided by the CR Neiva Las Ceibas.
STRENGTHS, NEEDS, COMMUNITY PRIORITIES AND PROJECT DESIGN
Describe what community members said they cared about during the evaluation.
They want to improve their standard of living, to be able to have opportunities for environmentally friendly productive work in their territory, which can offer possibilities of progress to women and young people in the communities, avoiding migration to the city to increase the poverty belts.
Describe the community's strengths and resources.
1 The community has traditional knowledge passed down from generation to generation about agricultural practices and how to live in harmony with nature. This ancestral knowledge is an invaluable asset for the sustainability and development of the project.
2 The community has roots in its territory. Furthermore, living together for many years makes them supportive, proactive, and facilitates the process of creating an associative group.
3 By living in a Regional Natural Park (Reserve Zone), the community incorporates environmentally friendly practices in its daily life.
4 The community is aware of the scope of the project, participated in its structuring and chose beekeeping as a sustainable economic activity that can improve their income to improve their standard of living.
Describes challenges and gaps in community behaviors, skills, and knowledge.
The community is very aware of the economic and environmental advantages of beekeeping, but they do not have the knowledge or financial resources to start a sustainable family beekeeping project.
MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY OF COMMUNITIE
They are peasant families that own small properties (minifundios), affected by unemployment, gender inequality, the absence of public services and health services, and the forced migration of young people at an early age due to lack of of education and employment opportunities.
The community is immersed in a circle of poverty that it is unable to break; its economic activity is limited to subsistence agriculture, which in some times does not guarantee food security.
Provide specific details about the project design and how it will solve these problems.
The project is designed as a long-term structural and sustainable solution, in order to bring to the community an option for conscious progress and productive inclusion, which in addition to providing solutions to their short-term needs, manages to diversify the economy of the community. region and strengthen its productive apparatus. Our project is a sustainable beekeeping project, installed in ideal environmental conditions, with the species Melipona Beechei, T Angustula and Apis Mellifera, in 20 apiaries with 20 hives per family unit, for a total of 400 hives.
Beekeeping is the activity that, while respecting the ecological balance of the Siberia Ceibas Regional Natural Park, offers a viable option for sustainable economic development for the region, giving priority to women and young people. The beneficiaries will have all the equipment and supplies necessary for the beekeeping activity and will have the support and accompaniment of our allies Regional Corporation of Alto Magdalena CAM, National Learning Service SENA, Department of Competitiveness and Business Development of the Chamber of Commerce of Huila and of the APISRED company for the training, installation, production, collection, packaging and marketing processes under competitive conditions of bee honey and its derived products (cores, wax, pollen, propolis). The beneficiaries will be assured with the companies Apiarios El Pinar and Cooperativa de Apicultores del Huila, COAPI, the sale of 100% of their final products, at market prices in force at the time of negotiation.
Describes the long-term plan for the project (such as oversight, financial responsibilities, and expected behavior change) after Rotary's involvement ends
The initial training stages in beekeeping and start-up will be carried out by the CAM and the SENA, at no cost to the project. The technical supervision visits will be carried out by the company Apisred and their cost is included in the budget. The Competitiveness and Business Development office of the Huila Chamber of Commerce will be in charge of training and advice for the constitution of the associative group and trademark registration. When the project is liquidated, the beneficiaries will be able to compete successfully in the market for honey and its derived products.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (FOR ALL PROJECTS IN THE FIELD OF WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE)
What are currently the biggest environmental threats to local soil, air, water resources and ecosystem?
Global warming
Indicates cultural practices relevant to the project (such as agricultural techniques or traditions). Because they are located in a Protected Natural Reserve Area, the community is aware of the protection of the ecosystem and environmentally friendly practices in their daily activities.
What positive and negative environmental changes do you expect to result from the project. Positive changes: the consolidation of the beekeeping project represents a very powerful environmental benefit for the reproduction and conservation of bees in a privileged ecosystem, and also for the increase in pollination processes in the region. NO risks of negative environmental effects are detected.
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