Meet Zainul
Zainul started beekeeping in 1995 with only two honey-bee boxes. Now she is the owner of the Women's Beekeeping Association of Ghazni and has trained 80 women beekeepers in both Ghazni and Panjshir Provinces. Collectively, they produce approximately 2,400 kilos of honey a year, which she helps them bring to market.
Update April 2008:
Zainul obtained a grant from USAID’s Afghan Small and Medium Enterprise Program to train 40 women in beekeeping in Mazar-e-Sharif. See picture above of the trainees. At the end of the training Zainul gave each of the women two boxes of bees to start their own business.
Now that the weather in Afghanistan has improved, Zainul is preparing to start a new honey bee colony. See photos above of her bee boxes in Ghazni. She drilled a well and she is laying the piping for her irrigation system. She started to plant flowers for her honey production in her beekeeping center. Since Zainul was able to increase the amount of her boxes from 50 to 100, she hired two more women to work with her. She is confident that by the time she has 200 boxes, her business will be sustainable and she will be able to help more women by hiring them.
Bpeace is currently designing a logo for Zainul.
Most Critical Needs
Zainul’s current needs include 40 empty bee boxes; to have her labels printed, to purchase 1,000 bottles, and to drill a well. Zainul estimates that this will cost up to $14,000.
Zainul's longer term goals are: to extend her business across additional Afghan provinces; to expand her product offering beyond just honey--beeswax and candles, for instance; and to improve her product packaging. To do this, she needs new equipment, and the ability to transport bee-boxes to and from multiple locations.
Zainul has also struggled with drought-related problems. She needs technical training on irrigation and how to manage the agricultural fluctuations that affect her business.
The Bpeace Opportunity
Zainul is one of 19 female Afghan entrepreneurs in the three-year Bpeace program. US-based business volunteers bring her training, mentoring, and access to business best practices and expansion capital. In partnership with the US Department of State, Citizen Exchanges Division, Zainul will come to the US for three weeks in October 2008. While here, she will intern with a host company, and receive crucial trainings in business methods and the ways in which she can build peace in Afghanistan.
Zainul's Story
Zainul was born and raised in Kabul. She graduated with a degree in Literature from Kabul University and taught at Jamal Mina School for 13 years. During the Taliban's reign, Zainul fled to Iran where she began teaching again, to over 800 Afghan refugee children. She returned to Kabul in 2002.
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About Bpeace
Bpeace (The Business Council for Peace) is a non-profit international network of businesspeople who believe that when women are strong economically, they have a strong voice for peace in their local communities and societies.
Very simply—more jobs mean less violence.
In conflict or post-conflict regions—like Afghanistan—Bpeace identifies and assists the businesswomen most likely to succeed. Through the volunteer efforts of our members, Bpeace provides them with up to three years of pro-bono business consulting, industry-specific technical knowledge; training and networking opportunities; and access to best practices, financing and international markets. We also conduct ongoing dialogues with them to improve their ability to connect the dots between business and peace.
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