Bee farming can generate billions of dollars for Nigeria – USAID official

The Team Leader, USAID Bee Keeping Pollination Project, Mr. David Musa, says Nigeria can generate over ten billion dollars from local and international trade in honey and other hive products.

Musa made this known in an interview on the sideline of a Capacity Building Workshop for bee-farmers in Goshen, Nasarawa State.

According to him, “Honey trade can generate up to 10 billion dollars if you look at cumulative values from honey and other hive products and the value of pollination,’’ he said.

Musa who is the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Apiculture Platform disclosed that the domestic consumption rate of honey in the country was currently 380,000 tonnes, with a global price of about 4.5 billion dollars.

He further emphasised the need for the country to get honey export certification from the European Union, adding that it would give credibility to the forthcoming largest Africa Apiculture Trade to be hosted by Nigeria in 2018 which according to him will put Nigeria on the global bee-keeping map. 

‘‘The EU certificate is one of the highest levels of certification and it is necessary to get that. Nigeria consumes about 380,000 tonnes of honey, a current global price of about 4.5 billion dollars and that is just domestic consumption of honey; we have not gone into industrial production, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals,’’ he said.

In the same vein, Alhaji Mohammed Mahmud, a bee-farmer and participant at the workshop, commended the Federal Government and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) for the workshop. 

‘‘This program is coming at the appropriate time because many people do not know about bee farming. The workshop has come to educate bee-keepers like me, on the techniques, problems and prospects to move the industry and country forward.”

Alhaji Mahmud also noted that the workshop was positioned to look at the existing laws that govern the bee industry. ‘‘We want to look at it together and see what changes can be made to make the industry move forward. I want to assure you that we will do our best to make sure that necessary legislation for the bee industry will be taken care of,” he noted.