HONEY PRODUCTION CLIMBS BY 5.1 pc IN MBINGA TOWN COUNCIL

Tarehe ya kuwekwa: November 8th, 2023

By Alex Nelson Malanga

Information Officer---MTC

Mbinga. As the money is considered to be in the honey, production of that sweet golden liquid in Mbinga Town Council (MTC) jumped by 5.1 percent in the year 2022/23 compared to 2021/22.

Speaking on behalf of the Mbinga Town Council director, Ms. Amina Seif, the Council’s Bee-keeping Officer, Mr. Gilbert Gotifrid, said on Wednesday, November 8, 2023 that under the period of review production of honey, whose global market is surging day by day, climbed from 3.9 tonnes to 4.1 tonnes.

He attributed an upward trend to the increase in people’s involvement in beekeeping activities, hats off to his team for their incredible promotion in line with creating honey producer and consumer awareness.

“Being a result of scaling up honey producer and consumer awareness campaign with a view to encouraging increased visibility, the response from Mbinga Town Council residents has been increasing day by day,” asserted Mr. Gotifrid.

He went further to say that in the year 2022/23 a number of individuals and institutions that involved in beekeeping escalated to 84 compared to the preceding year’s 42.

The icing on the cake, under the period of reference, a number of groups that involved in the activity flew from 32 to 40, according to him.

However, Mr Gotifrid, expounded, despite a positive performance, the trend is not that promising.

 “There is enormous untapped potential here. It is high time Mbinga Town Council dwellers became proactive in grabbing opportunities coming their way,” he underscored.

He went on to add: “Out of 900 hectares of land that we have allocated for bee keeping activities at Lipembe hills (Kihungu and Kikolo wards), it is only about 1.1 percent of it that is being used for the purpose.”

Going by the official data, Tanzania, which produces at least 30,400 tonnes of honey annually, is the second leading producer of honey in Africa after Ethiopia whose production volume stands at 45,000 tonnes per annum.

This suggests that if more is done, honey producers will put Tanzania on a world map by competing with giant producers on a globe.   

According to the Tanzania Forestry Service (TFS) Strategic Plan, a plan is afoot to increase the honey production to 60,000 tonnes in 2025. 

                  The money is in the honey

In 2022, the average honey export price amounted to $3,599 (about Sh9 million) per tonne, surging by 3.6 percent against the previous year, according to the World Honey Market Report Analysis and Forecast.

In value terms, New Zealand, China and Argentina appeared to be the countries with the highest levels of exports in 2022, with a combined 31 percent share of global exports.

 India, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Vietnam, Hungary, Poland and Turkey lagged somewhat behind, together accounting for a further 40 percent.

Reports have it that the countries with the highest volumes of honey consumption in 2022 were China, the United States and Turkey, together accounting for 36 percent of global consumption.

Iran, Germany, Russia, the UK, Japan, France, Canada, Spain, Poland and Ukraine lagged somewhat behind, together comprising a further 28 percent.