Bees are important for the environment and to the economy. It is estimated that pollinators, including honeybees, bumblebees, and wild bees, contribute at least 22 billion EUR each year to the European agriculture. The European Commission has taken important steps to diagnose and prevent bees’ mortality, while it has published the Green Deal paper, with 2 policy pillars relating to biodiversity and ‘Farm to fork’ hence supporting the ecosystems and minimising the negative impact of humans. Apiculture is supported through the Common Agricultural Policy, while Specific priority 8 of the CAP 2021-27 supports rural development policies through diversification actions by creating value added for their products.

The MedBEESinessHubs project contributes to these policies by suggesting holistic approaches in creating value added products/services and opening new market opportunities for the honeybee products; at the same time the project is linking rural development policies with the honeybee and the necessity to protect the ecosystem, building upon the concept of Bee-Economy for sustainable growth especially in deprived rural communities.

Aiming at empowering local communities in five Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPC): Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Lebanon and Palestine, through capacity building activities in business-oriented as well as handcrafting techniques, and through micro-funding, MedBEESinessHubs supports the creation and upgrading of Micro-Small-Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs) operating in the Bee-Economy. Apiculture, as an existing activity in the target regions, will be developed as a tool for economic growth under the notion of cooperation, necessary to support private enterprises and the trickle effects of the concept at the sustainable destination level. The final aim: to establish the Mediterranean BEEsiness Hubs, comprising of five clusters of bee-businesses, supporting not only individual job creation but also regional tourism growth, reverting the regional isolation and the current lack of a sustainable destination theme.

In light of this,  the MedBEESinessHubs project is launching a call for proposals in all participating partner countries to award subgrants of €264,700  value to enterprises (micro SMEs), NGOs, and natural persons, particularly to young people and women in rural areas.

Five calls for proposals are now open. All interested parties must download the full set of the sub-grant documents (available in English and national language) by clicking below links:

Call for proposals for Cyprus

Call for proposals for Egypt

Call for proposals for Italy

Call for proposals for Lebanon

Call for proposals for Palestine