Ana, the Georgian woman farmer with a passion for beekeeping

Ana Chitishvili is a 27-year-old woman from Ateni village in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia. She is a beekeeper and owns a family business that produces natural honey.

“My father was engaged in beekeping and this is how all started” Ana said.  She started working to expand the existing business and produce more natural honey.

However, the journey was not easy as she faced several challenges.

One of the major challenges that Ana faced was the lack of trust from the customers. “It was a big challenge when we could not sell the existing products in the local market because many people did not trust us, and they did not trust the quality of our products” she added.

However, with determination and hard work, Ana managed to convince the customers about the quality of the honey, and the sales started to increase

According to FAO data, Georgia has around 70 000 bee colonies, with an average honey production of 14 to15 kg per colony. The honey produced in Georgia is considered to be of high quality due to the country's favorable climate and diverse flora. However, there is still a lot of untapped potential in the country's beekeeping sector, especially in terms of increasing the number of colonies and improving production techniques.

In the Shida Kartli region, where Ana lives, beekeeping is a common practice, with many families owning small beekeeping businesses.  However, like Ana, female beekeepers face challenges in selling their products in the local market.  

According to a study conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2018, only 10 percent of beekeeping businesses in Georgia are owned by women.

To support the development of Georgia's beekeeping sector, the FAO and the Austrian Development Cooperation have been working with local beekeepers to improve their production techniques and reduce the workload.

“As a project beneficiary, I received a honey strainer and candle holder, which made it easier for me to produce high-quality honey saving a lot of time and efficiently” she said.

“Female beekeepers are facing a big challenge: it is hard to sell the product in the local market, without having programmes and cooperation agreements with large producers” Ana added.

She also emphasizes the importance of providing sufficient knowledge and training to female beekeepers to help them expand their businesses.

According to FAO, women play a crucial role in the beekeeping sector, with studies showing that women's involvement can increase productivity and improve honey quality. However, there are still significant gender gaps in the sector, with women often facing limited access to resources, markets, and training.

Ana is committed to following organic farming practices and using organic preparations to keep her bees healthy.  She also keeps her bees in places where the environment is not poisoned, which ensures the honey produced is ecologically clean and of high quality.

Bees play a vital role in both the environment and human health. By pollinating plants, they help to maintain biodiversity, which is crucial for a healthy and sustainable environment. Bees are also indicators of the health of an ecosystem; if they are thriving, it usually means that the ecosystem is healthy and balanced. Therefore, protecting bees and their habitat is essential for the health of the environment.

Moreover, bees are important for the country's agriculture sector, as they help to pollinate crops and ensure their productivity, and honey production is an important sector of the Georgian economy, and it provides job opportunities for many people, including women.

Ana believes that Georgia has great potential to produce more ecologically clean honey and that more awareness raising and public campaigns are needed to promote the importance of beekeeping and the role of bees in maintaining a healthy ecosystem, preserving biodiversity loss and maintaining the balance of the coexistence between nature and humans.

“Every day I try to learn new information about beekeeping and my business”, she said.

Beekeeping is a complex process that requires a significant amount of skill and knowledge. Beekeepers must know how to manage the hives, monitor the health of the bees, and extract the honey in a safe and efficient manner. They also need to be aware of the risks associated with beekeeping, such as the potential for bee stings and the spread of disease among the hives.

Ana's story highlights the potential impact that women beekeepers can have on their local communities and economies. For example, women-led businesses have been shown to have a positive impact on poverty reduction and economic growth in developing countries, and beekeeping is a relatively low-cost and sustainable way for women to generate income.

Ana's story is an inspiration to many women who are passionate about agriculture and beekeeping. It highlights the important role that bees and beekeepers play in preserving biodiversity and promoting sustainable agriculture in Georgia. Bees are essential pollinators for many crops and plants, and beekeepers can help to promote the use of organic and sustainable farming practices that are beneficial for both the environment and human health.

Ana is a true example of how determination and hard work can help overcome the challenges of being a woman farmer in Georgia.