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How the nuns of Causeni, Moldova won an ILO business competition?

This article tells the story of how the nuns of a rural monastery became beneficiaries of the ILO Local Employment Partnerships project, and how they revived their apiary and honey production business.

News | 09 November 2021

© ILO/Ion Buga

“It’s a Miracle of God that happened to us", exclaims Mother Susana, of the "Marta and Maria" Monastery in the Causeni district in the south of the Republic of Moldova, when she talks about the Monastery's apiary. Due to severe weather conditions, practically all the bee families of the Monastery apiary perished this spring. Consequently, the 60 nuns and the 55 young students of the Theological Seminary were left without one of the most important food on their daily menu: honey. The Monastery has to generate its own income, and honey has also been a secure source of money for them. Moreover, the monastery has been severely affected by the pandemic crisis, too.

The Monastery church turned out to be too small for the crowd coming to pray. That is why, a few years ago, the community of nuns laid down the foundation of a new cathedral. All the money earned from the sale of products grown around the monastery, including the sale of honey, has been invested in the construction of the cathedral and used for buying additional land. The Monastery welcomes pilgrims from Moldova and abroad, so it was important for the community to renovate it.

The help to save the Monastery's apiary came just in time and from where they least expected. The Head Mother found out from the leader of the local Beekeepers' Association about the ILO project within the Local Employment Partnership (LEP) in the Causeni district for the development of beekeeping businesses. The LEP methodology includes enterprises, municipalities, schools and training institutions, NGOs who collaborate in order to find solutions for local labour markets needs. LEPs has proved to be efficient mechanisms for local job creation in rural Moldova, where opportunities are scarce and labour emigration rates are high.

After some hesitation, the four Nuns in charge of the monastery's apiary, submitted their business plans. They were pleasantly surprised to find out that they are among the 25 selected beneficiaries and that they will get 10 beehives and as many bee families for free. Furthermore, the Nuns participated in a beekeeping and entrepreneurship training, and received help to improve their business plans. They were also assisted in registering their business and obtaining the necessary sanitary-veterinary certificates and passports for the apiary. That means they will be able to sell the honey abroad, too. This is particularly important for them, as previously they had to miss opportunities because of the lack of the necessary documents. 


© ILO/Ion Buga

Even though Mother Susana has a lot of experience in beekeeping, she says the training was very useful. It encouraged them to review their bee care practices and contemplate diversifying the honey products.

Over the time, according to their business plans, the Nuns intend to multiply their 40 bee families, enlarge the apiary and create at least two more jobs. This doesn't seem difficult to them, since they already have a solid foundation: 40 modern hives and as many Carpathian bee families. Mother Susana claims they have high hopes in relation to beekeeping: “We plan to invest the money earned from the sales in equipment that would facilitate our work and allow us to diversify the products. In time we intend to procure a milk processing machine and other equipment for the monastery's bakery”. She continued: “The Monastery has all the settings needed for the production of organic honey. It is located in a picturesque place in the middle of the forest with a rich melliferous base.” She thinks that without the ILO assistance, it would have been much more difficult to revive the monastery's apiary on its own.

Business development in beekeeping is one of the priorities of the Local Employment Partnership in Causeni. Beekeeping has been identified as an income-generating sector for inactive young people, the informally employed, the unemployed, returning migrants and others who have been affected by the pandemic. In addition to the complex assistance offered in launching a beekeeping business, all 25 beneficiaries will be further mentored by the local Beekeepers' Association to increase the honey production and the number of bee families.

Launched at the end of February 2021 with funding provided by the Austrian Development Agency and the ILO, the Causeni LEP aims to create and formalize 145 jobs, launch 60 start-ups in sectors with a job creation potential, such as beekeeping, agricultural product processing and the creative industry.