On January 30, 2014, Dabur announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) for a mega community development initiative aimed at promoting livelihood and implementing income generation programs among the rural populace of Bihar. The initiative, which will involve training the rural populace on bee-keeping and production of raw Honey, will positively impact 20,000 households in Bihar in a phased manner.The program is designed to cover 500 beneficiaries in the first phase, which will be implemented through 2014 and 2015.
Dabur India Ltd has also entered into a buy-back arrangement, under which the Honey produced by the community would be purchased by Dabur India Ltd, leading to improved earnings for the households. This initiative, planned after identifying the strengths and local priorities of the community, will help plan for the future of the rural households and help them become more resilient, besides improving their standards of living.
In a first such initiative in India, the project plans to develop Beekeeping Resource Centers (BRC) at all strategic locations in the project areas. Each of these resource centers shall be equipped with modern facilities for honey extraction and grading, basic quality testing, queen-bee rearing, production of accessories for bee-keeping and a sales outlet for consumables needed for bee farmers. These resource centers will also have storage facility, thus can serve as procurement centers.
Each resource center shall cater to the needs of 100-150 beekeepers placed in their vicinity. The center shall also assist the farmers in the migration of bee colonies in a well-designed manner. Dabur will design and manage the BRCs during formative years and concurrently build capacities of local teams to run the same into future. Dabur has also agreed to support the communities beyond their internal needs of ‘honey procurement’. In the interest of the beneficiary communities, the scientific team at Dabur shall contribute to the accrual of economic benefits through wax processing and extraction of royal jelly.
