UK project to boost honey

By Alice Kiingi

RURAL bee farmers are to benefit from a four-year pilot project aimed at increasing their output and seeking competitive global markets. “Uganda’s bid to reap from the lucrative global and regional honey market is hindered by low supply that cannot even sustain the local market,” Janet Lowore, the project coordinator, Bees for Development, a non-governmental organisation based in the UK, said.

If bee-keepers were motivated by the Government, they would at least produce 20,000 tonnes annually for export mainly to Europe and the Middle East.”

“We are here to offer technical expertise and guidance to rural bee farmers to boost and increase cash flow into the sector,” Lowore said during training of bee-keepers under their associations at the Uganda Export Promotion Board recently.

The project, which has been running for the last 18 months under the theme: “Strengthening trade in honey and other bee products in Uganda,” addresses constraints to the sector’s growth.

“Trade opportunities for bee products are widening on the local market and outside but there are still some biting challenges.”

“Inefficiencies in the supply chain are caused by weak bee farmers associations, which have failed to organise their members to form one collecting centre at a sub-county level from which packers collect the honey. The packers have limited finances to visit every bee farmer in the village to collect the honey,” Robert Ndyabarema, the National Apiculture Development Organisation executive director, said.

Solar Sandra from Bee Natural Products, packers of honey and other bee products for the local market and export added: “Honey does not reach us on time. We also lack enough honey to meet demand.”

“The sector has been disorganised since after 2005 when it last recorded export statistics.”