TEMA FOUNDATION WILL CREATE JOBS WITH EUROPEAN UNION SUPPORT

TEMA Foundation has started its first EU supported project according to the contract signed on 24th of December in Ankara with EU Central Finance and Contracts Unit. “Creation of Employment by Providing Training on Bee & Honey Production for Unemployed in Artvin” is a one year project that will be implemented within “Active Labour Market Programs Project, Employment Opportunities In The Projects” programme. The project aims to create employment for 60 unemployed young people after educating them on beekeeping and to increase the ecological honey production and the income of 40 micro enterprise owners by increasing their technical knowledge and skills. The total budget of the EU funded project is 166.605 Euro. 17% of this budget will be compensated by TEMA Foundation.

One of the most important reasons why Artvin region is selected for the implementation is the high beekeeping potential of the region. In Artvin, where the migration rate is too high and the industry is almost non-existent, agricultural lands are very limited, forest work is seasonal and livestock breeding potential is very low. The region’s one and only employment possibility is the service sector. Consequently, beekeeping activity in Artvin will help to prevent the unemployment and migration. Since in Artvin industrial pollution, agricultural fertilizing or pesticide use is limited, the region is very suitable for organic honey production. On the other hand, Queen Caucasian Bee, one of the most productive bee race exists in this region.

Thanks to her diverse climatic regions and geography Turkey has a very rich bee flora. With her 3,5 million colonies, Turkey ranks fourth in the world in terms of colony wealth. Turkey’s total honey production is 65.000 tons. 38.000 families produce honey and bee products. However, with 15-17 kg honey yield per colony, Turkey’s beekeeping productivity is only 1/3 of developped countries. Through this project, target group will be able to use the potential to produce healthy and natural honey. The project will be a model in order to improve Turkey’s beekeeping.