AI-Driven Climate-Smart Beekeeping for Women (AID-CSB)

The current unrest in Ethiopia present a potential risk for the project, However, the Oromia Region and proposed project area in Ethiopia, where the Holeta Bee Research Center is located has – so far - not been adversely affected by the ongoing conflict in the Tigray region. A key risk that any use of technology faces is when user adoption is not as high as needed to achieve the project's aim. To mitigate this risk, we will allow the users to test the app's prototype and collect and incorporate beekeepers' feedback on the technology's usability before the app is finalized and the field component is initiated. This period is critical to allow the beekeepers to familiarize themselves with the app and the technology extensively. A second risk factor is the lack of internet or connectivity in the project area. For this purpose, the app is laid out to work offline. At a later point, when an internet connection is recovered, the documented hive event will be uploaded.

The app tracks and manages beekeeping tasks according to set goals such as increasing bee health or learning new beekeeping practices. The app then pools and processes local knowledge from regional beekeepers to deliver advice back to beekeepers, tailored to their individual hives, flora, and climate. This creates the opportunity to enable micro-entrepreneurship and directly improve women’s livelihoods through (1) digital literacy, beekeeping training and performance of hive inspections with a smartphone app’s assistance, (2) increased honey production, and (3) digital traceability of honey and proof of commercial activity to alleviate poverty through COVID-19 resilient income, non-dependent upon land and resource ownership.

In 2021, ICARDA’s Monitoring and Evaluation team, along with the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute and the beekeeping data company HiveTracks, supported the economic activities of Lebanese beekeepers through the development of a groundbreaking hive management app aimed specifically at developing the capacity of women beekeepers. The app allows beekeeping experts and extension workers, many of whom do not have easy access to training and peer-beekeepers, to remotely manage beekeeping practices and improve bee health. ICARDA is now working with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, the Holeta Bee Research Centre and HiveTracks to pilot the app in Ethiopia and Uzbekistan. In 2022, ICARDA’s knowledge management activities included working with 39 beekeepers (majority women) to localize a hive management app for Uzbekistan and Ethiopia through the AI-Driven Climate Smart Beekeeping for Women project. The project received new funding in 2022 to build on this work to increase app adoption, use, and digital literacy.