Tribal Livelihood, Women Empowerment and Sustainable Enterprise
Tribal Honey Value Chain and Women’s Micro-Enterprise Programme
A community-based livelihood programme connecting indigenous honey gatherers with fair procurement, safe processing, women-led packaging, digital marketing and direct market access.
About the project
The Tribal Honey Value Chain and Women’s Micro-Enterprise Programme is designed to strengthen sustainable livelihoods among indigenous forest-dependent families and rural women in Kerala.
The project will organise 300 tribal honey gatherers into a transparent procurement network that provides fair pricing, accurate weighing, timely payments and traceability for collected wild multifloral forest honey.
Twenty-five women from economically disadvantaged communities will be selected and trained to manage honey filtering, quality testing, hygienic processing, bottling, labelling, inventory management and packaging. The processing unit will follow applicable FSSAI requirements and food-safety standards.
Women participants will also receive training in entrepreneurship, bookkeeping, digital payments, product photography, content creation, social-media promotion, customer communication, online selling and order management.
The programme will develop a common community brand for responsibly sourced forest honey and related value-added products. Market connections will be created through retail outlets, institutional buyers, exhibitions, community networks and digital sales channels.
The project will also promote responsible harvesting practices to protect bee colonies, forest biodiversity and the long-term availability of natural resources.
Expected outcomes include improved and more stable income for 300 tribal honey gatherers, establishment of a women-operated processing and packaging unit, creation of 25 women-led livelihood opportunities, improved product quality, direct market access and reduced dependence on informal intermediaries.