Support Honey Production in Hanover



The western Jamaica based Hanover Bee Farmers Association (HBFA) has turned to the crowdfunding platform iSupportJamaica.com in order to roll its beekeeping project.

HBFA is trying to raise J$390, 000 or US$3,900, which will be used to run an intensive training programme for 30 unemployed youth. The youngsters will be exposed to the theoretical aspect of beekeeping while zeroing in on more technical things such as box making. At the end of the two-month training initiative, the teenagers, who hail from varying communities within the parishes of Westmoreland and Hanover, will be required to participate in a two-week internship programme.

“It is remarkable what the Hanover Bee Farmers Association is trying to achieve with these youngsters. Many of them have finished school and have been unemployed for some time now. It’s going to be interesting to see how impactful a project, like this one, will be on the lives of the participants,” said Saffrey Brown, General Manager of the JN Foundation. She added: “What I like especially about this project is the fact that once the training has been completed, the teenagers are placed to work alongside bee farmers as part of their internship. This, I’m sure, will be mind blowing for them... as they’ll be able to apply all that they’ve learned during the training programme.”      


CREDIBLE ORGANISATION
Hanover is known for producing some of the tastiest  honey in the world. So it was easy for the Hanover Bee Farmers’ Association to develop a project of this nature. Back in 2010, with grant funding from the JN Foundation, the Association implemented a project that saw some 60 farmers, aged 18 - 80, recovering from the extensive damage caused by Tropical Storm Nicole. This speaks volume to the kind of work HBFA is capable of doing.

CROWDFUNDING EXPLAINED 



So perhaps you’re wondering to yourself: ”What exactly is crowdfunding anyway?” Remember the Jamaican adage ‘One, one cocoa full basket’? Well... crowdfunding allows people, community development organisations and businesses to leverage the power of the Internet to raise funds for their respective projects and businesses. This video illustrates how iSupportJamaica.com a Caribbean-based crowdfunding website operates:

Donations made to this project will go towards training and the purchase of the starter kits for all 30 trainees, which include two boxes, a hive, and a smoke veil.

What are your expectations of HBFA’s beekeeping training programme? Share it on our Facebook page – and let us know…

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