Opening of the newly establish beekeeping center for landmine victims in Banja Luka, UDAS
The collaboration of UDAS, ITF and Beekeeping Academy of Slovenia resulted in a new beekeeping center for victims of landmines in Banja Luka BiH.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023 11 am, UDAS Organization, Banja Luka BiH
ITF Enhancing Human Security, Amputee Organization UDAS and Beekeeping Academy of Slovenia are participating for the third year in a row in the project »Beekeeping as an empowerment tool for people with disabilities from Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
The key purpose of the project is to empower beekeepers, persons with disabilities – landmine victims from BIH with knowledge that will help to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and profitability of beekeeping practice. As part of the project, beekeeping instructors of the Beekeeping Academy of Slovenia provide educational courses and practical trainings in the field of beekeeping.
Beekeeping enables establishment of a stable household income and improvement of the quality of life of vulnerable social groups, i.e. victims of landmines. It requires little initial investment and does not require complex technologies to get started, as locally sourced materials can be used. In general, beekeeping is extremely suitable for small-scale agricultural activities in places where capital and technological resources are low and therefore offers many employment opportunities even for people with disabilities, as it is based on work at home.
The purpose of establishing the beekeeping center in Banja Luka is to connect beekeepers in the region and beyond, which represents a common space for knowledge exchange and information. It will also provide practical training for beekeepers and offer opportunities to promote the honey and honey products of mine-victim beekeepers.
As part of the opening of the beekeeping center in Banja Luka, the beekeeping instructors of the Slovenian Beekeeping Academy will conduct training in the field of bee nutrition, preparation of bee colonies for the first spring grazing, present the method of beekeeping with AŽ hives and outline effective strategies for the joint appearance of beekeepers who are victims of B&H mines on the honey supply market and honey products. Mine victim beekeepers from BiH will also visit Slovenia during the first week of June 2023 for the purpose of practical training on queen breeding, which will be organized and carried out by the Beekeeping Academy of Slovenia.
As part of the opening of the beekeeping center in Banja Luka, the project partners joined the initiative of the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association called Day of planting honey plants, which takes place on March 25. It is an initiative by Slovenian beekeepers for the whole world to join the project, “because our planet needs the planting of honey trees to preserve the environment, to preserve pollinators and thus, consequently, to ensure the survival of pollinators and thereby ensure the pollination service for the production of 70% of food” (Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association). For this purpose, Zavarovalnica Triglav donated donor funds in the amount of EUR 2,000.00 for the purchase of honey plants to the new beekeeping center in Banja Luka.
Project donator: Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
