They have presented to Rwandan beekeepers a proposal of partnership last week which once concluded will allow the investor to work directly with honey producers.

 

Esther Su from The Apiary Ltd expressed the interests on August 17, 2015 while meeting with representatives of 20 honey producing cooperatives from across the country. 

 

The proposal is worth $3million and is aimed at upgrading honey producers’ knowledge and providing them with modern equipment which is aimed at increasing productivity which will be supplied by the investor after buying it all to the international market.

 

“This is in line with the broad program of the Government of Rwanda to streamline the agriculture sector,” Minister of state for agriculture, Tony Nsanganira said last week in Kigali.

 

Nsanganira said, “This is really a model that the government is promoting not only for honey, but also in other areas”.

 

The third phase of the Strategic Plan for the Transformation of Agriculture (PSTA III) in Rwanda envisages that honey production should be more than 8000 metric tons by 2017/18.

 

Last year, Rwanda’s beekeepers produced around 4000 metric tons of honey.

 

“This target is likely to be achieved easily once beekeepers enhance their knowledge and use modern hives not only to increase production, but also meet export standards,” Nsanganira said.

 

Rwanda currently has about 80,000 honey producers who have more than 90,000 hives, 70% of these being traditional hives.

 

According to Nsanganira, a traditional beehive can produce between 3and 5kgs of honey, whereas a modern one can produce up to 90kgs per year which calls for need to increase use of modern hives.

 

Rwandan beekeepers get access to the Singaporean market while the country got a certificate to export its honey to European market since June last year – something that the State Minister described as “great opportunities” for honey producers. 

 

“We really need to work on supply side,” pointed out State Minister Nsanganira, urging beekeepers to take the advantage and build long-term relationships with investors to ensure enough supply.

 

Beekeepers in the country operate in four main zones namely Nyungwe, Gishwati, Virunga and Akagera zones.

Source : busiweek.com