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

ABOUT US

Based on a participatory design and user-research process with women beekeepers in Uzbekistan and Ethiopia, AID-CSB will localize a beekeeping companion app and make it available to beekeepers. Incorporating traditional and local beekeeping knowledge and weather data, the app will be driven by data collected by beekeepers to support women, their decision-making for hive management, and provide a low-entry barrier economic activity. The women beekeepers will use the app to monitor and manage their hives by entering data on hive inspections and receiving helpful notifications on when to inspect the hive, weather, pests, diseases, and more.

Period of Implementation

Mar 1, 2021 - Dec 15, 2021

Total Budget

USD 225,689.91

Project team

Partners

HiveTracks

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas - ICARDA

International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology - ICIPE

Donors

German Federal Foreign Office

OUR IMPACT

Goals

To support biodiversity and enable improved hive management among women by leveraging traditional knowledge and technical assistance to become more productive beekeepers, using a gender-sensitive, participatory, and inclusive app development process.

Objectives

The project will measure successful technology adoption and usage by looking at how and to what extent the beekeeping companion app is used by the lead beekeepers each week, i.e., the frequency and quality of data collection, and the frequency and type of interaction with the app to request guidance in case of diseases or anomalies.

Impacts on beekeeping proficiency and livelihood effects will also be measured by looking at the number, frequency, and quality of hive inspections using the app, and the total harvested honey. These figures will be compared to the regional average at the end of each harvest.

UPDATES

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.

Impact Pathway

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.