Producers
Airawati Multipurpose Small Farmers Cooperative Ltd.
smallholder farmers' cooperative · honey producer/collector · agricultural producers' organization
Sarumarani Rural Municipality, Pyuthan District, Lumbini Province, Nepal
A smallholder-led agricultural cooperative in Sarumarani Rural Municipality, Pyuthan District, Nepal. It collects Chiuri (Churi) honey from Pyuthan and works with member farmers on honey, ginger, turmeric, and beans.
About the Producer
A little history
The cooperative’s establishment year remains unresolved in public records: Catholic Relief Services (CRS) gives 2001, while a 2014 value-chain publication gives 2003 (2060 BS). The 2014 publication says it was formed to support member farmers’ ginger cultivation and market links. CRS describes it as a smallholder-led, community-based organization in Sarumarani that served 1,221 members during its 2019–2023 project period.
How They Work
Beekeeping in practice
A member-based smallholder agricultural cooperative that supports production, collection, processing and storage training, and market access. For Chiuri honey, a Mountain Partnership profile lists 165 producers, including 95 women, and notes that the honey is collected through the cooperative. Across its broader agricultural work, CRS reported 1,221 cooperative members during 2019–2023.
Sarumarani Rural Municipality, Pyuthan District, Lumbini Province, Nepal
CRS identifies the cooperative as located in Sarumarani Rural Municipality in Pyuthan District; the municipal planning document places Sarumarani in Lumbini Province.
Pyuthan District, Nepal
FAO's product profile says Chiuri honey comes from Pyuthan District, where the honey producers operate between 1,000 and 1,800 metres and Chiuri occurs in cultivated landscapes and community forests.
Community forests in Pyuthan District, Nepal
The FAO profile reports that Chiuri trees occur naturally in community forests and presents the producers' account that bees forage on Chiuri flowers from their community forest during the tree's bloom.
Products & Specimens
What connects to this producer
Products listed by the Producer are kept separate from specimens held in the Collection.
Chiuri honey (also presented by FAO as Churi honey)
Floral source: Chiuri tree
Documented origin: Pyuthan District, Nepal
Origin detail: Region
FAO's Mountain Partnership Product profile explicitly says this honey is collected by Airawati Multipurpose Small Farmers Cooperative Ltd. It identifies the territory as Pyuthan District and says producers move hives to Chiuri trees during flowering. The source describes the bees as feeding on Chiuri nectar and pollen.
People
People connected to the work
- Yanuka Gharti Magar Chiuri-honey producer connected with Airawati Multipurpose Small Farmers Cooperative
- Rewat Prasad Kharel Secretary (as identified in CRS Farmer-to-Farmer impact story)
Practices
How they work
- Seasonal hive movement to Chiuri trees during flowering.
- Hand extraction using traditional methods for the documented Chiuri honey.
- No fertilizers or pesticides used on the Chiuri trees, according to the FAO Mountain Partnership product profile.
- Honey-production, processing and storage training available through cooperative membership for at least one profiled producer.