Economic-Financial Evaluation of the Beekeeping Business Plan in Order to Rangeland Users Empowerment

Ecosystem is a platform for economic and social development and, in fact, a support for sustainable production in any society, so that its fundamental exploitation is necessary and inevitable. One of the important subdivisions of ecosystems is pastures. The economic evaluation of the functions and resources that are taken from the pasture ecosystem is a useful method for the optimal management of resources at the local level. With the help of the results obtained from the economic evaluation, it is possible to choose businesses that improve the livelihood of the pasture users and empower them as well. For this purpose, in the present study, the pastures of four villages (Zoo olia, Keshank, Darkash, Chakhmagalo) in Maneh and Samalqan cities were selected as samples. First, the economic valuation of the beekeeping function of the rangeland (honey production) was done using the available questionnaire and random sampling method. In the next step, the costs of beekeeping business were collected with the help of survey data and the tables of fixed and variable costs and the amount of sales were compiled. In the next step, the financial-economic evaluation of the project was done with the help of financial indicators, including NPV, B/C, ROI, and IRR. The results showed that the beekeeping business has a suitable economic justification for setting up.