You are here » Home » Telling Our Story
Case Study
Disabled survivors explore new ways to generate income
Landmine Survivors Find Opportunities
| |
Photo: WRF
|
|
Some landmine survivors keep bees to produce and sell honey.
Survivors can learn a range of skills, including raising chicken for meat and eggs, raising bees for honey and cultivating herbs for medicine.
|
Challenge
The district of Jezzine in South Lebanon is one of the most landmine-infested areas of Lebanon. More than 1,350 individuals and their families are victims of landmines. Marginalized from society, disabled survivors of landmines very often lose any source of income and become dependent on families for survival.
Initiative
Through the Jezzine Development Cooperative, USAID assists landmine survivors by providing them with job opportunities that generate income for them and their families. Survivors can learn a range of skills, including raising chicken for meat and eggs, raising bees for honey and cultivating herbs for medicine. They also have access to the cooperative's retail shop, where they can sell their products, including beeswax candles, distilled water and eggs.
Results
So far, more than 130 people are enrolled at the Cooperative, and their income supports 1,000 dependants. Fourteen new landmine survivors, three of them widows, have recently joined the cooperative's beekeeping project. Hailing from eleven villages in Jezzine, each beneficiary receives 15 beehives for honey production, along with beekeeping tools and accessories. At a later stage, USAID will provide the beneficiaries with further training, technical assistance and subsidies, as well as help with laboratory testing, packaging and marketing.
Print-friendly version of this page (244kb - PDF)
Click here for high-res photo
Back to Top ^ | 
