{"id":39586,"date":"2023-04-12T15:42:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T13:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fundacionmicrofinanzasbbva.org\/apicultura-en-el-desierto-un-negocio-sorprendente-que-prospera-gracias-a-la-tecnologia\/"},"modified":"2023-05-24T12:53:18","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T10:53:18","slug":"apicultura-en-el-desierto-un-negocio-sorprendente-que-prospera-gracias-a-la-tecnologia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fundacionmicrofinanzasbbva.org\/en\/apicultura-en-el-desierto-un-negocio-sorprendente-que-prospera-gracias-a-la-tecnologia\/","title":{"rendered":"Apiculture in the desert: a surprising business that prospers with the help of technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

To think of bees and flowers simultaneously is logical. That is why it is surprising to see that these insects can survive in the middle of the Chilean desert of Atacama.<\/p>\n

There, in Arica, very close to the frontier with Peru, lives the entrepreneur Edith Elgueta.\u00a0She sells the honey and propolis that her bees extract from the native flora, nourished by underground aquifers. It is quite a sight to see the hives, perched between enormous sand dunes, in an almost lunar landscape, where it looks as though life could not flourish while the bees’ buzzing breaks the silence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLiving in the desert is a challenge<\/strong> because you have to learn to live without water, to deal with the changes in climate, the stark difference in temperature between night and day. But it isn\u2019t a problem for me: the desert offers a kind of wealth that I can live on\u201d, explains Edith.<\/p>\n

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Edith Elgueta\u2019s beehives are in the middle of the Chilean desert and this is where she runs her business selling natural honey and propolis<\/p><\/div>\n

She never thought she would get involved in apiculture. But one day she decided that she didn\u2019t want to live in a polluted city; she saw a business opportunity and left her job as a municipal civil servant to take up beekeeping. That was the beginning of Colmenares P\u00edo Mart\u00edn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The honey production, which she collects according to lunar cycles, is 100% natural and without heavy metals.\u00a0She has won several awards and certifications, both domestic and international <\/strong>and also exports abroad. She has taken courses in naturopathy, magnet therapy, radiesthesia using a pendulum, with which she says she restores electromagnetic fields, homeopathy and healthy nutrition. Edith applies these treatments for her clients in a natural medicine therapy center she has set up near the hives.<\/p>\n

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Edith Elgueta combines honey production with naturopathy treatments<\/p><\/div>\n

She tries to make her business as sustainable as possible<\/strong>: she doesn’t use chemical products, neither to ward off other animals from the hives, nor to clean her tools, and her regular customers return the glass jars after they have eaten the honey. \u201cIt is a circular economy system. I am self-sustainable and sustainable\u201d<\/strong>, says Edith.<\/p>\n

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Edith Elgueta is learning about finance and business management on the free online platform created by Fondo Esperanza, BBVAMF\u2019s Chilean entity, and she is doing so from her business premises<\/p><\/div>\n

Technology to break down barriers<\/b><\/h3>\n

Living in the desert entails doing without certain things, but technology enables Edith to shorten the distances and show her products to the world, thanks to internet and social media<\/strong>. In these corners connectivity is essential for any kind of personal or commercial interaction. Her internet connection means she can do courses in administrative management, stock control and accounting. She connects to the free online training platform <\/strong>that\u00a0Fondo Esperanza<\/a>, BBVA Microfinance Foundation\u2019s Chilean institution, makes available to the over 112,000 entrepreneurs it serves.<\/p>\n