AI-Driven Climate Smart Beekeeping for Women | 2021 Project Report Brief

Laura Becker, Max Rünzel, Sarah-Beth Hopton. (4/7/2022). AI-Driven Climate Smart Beekeeping for Women | 2021 Project Report Brief. Beirut, Lebanon: International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

Abstract

In 2021, the AI-Driven Climate-Smart Beekeeping (AID-CSB) for Women project worked with 39 beekeepers in Uzbekistan and Ethiopia to co-design and localize the “Beekeeper’s Companion”, a climate-smart information communication technology for development (ICT4D) app designed to support beekeepers’ hive management practices and improve honey production. The project leverages the participation of women beekeepers and national experts and incorporates their traditional and local knowledge into algorithms that trigger automatic recommendations and notifications for beekeepers. Recognizing that rural women and women smallholder farmers should be given the opportunity to participate fully in project activities that affect their livelihoods and resilience, the majority of project beekeepers are women, who participated in all stages of the project (from design to use).