{Rwandan beekeepers have reason to smile after The Apairy Ltd, a Singaporean company has expressed huge interests to partner with them along the honey production chain and buy their production. }
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 meeting was meant to present to the beekeepers a proposal of partnership, reportedly worth $ 3 million, that, once concluded, would enable the investor to work directly with the honey producers to upgrade their knowledge and provide them with modern equipment in a bid to increase productivity; and, in turn, the investor will buy all the produced honey and supply it to international markets.
Speaking during the event, the State Minister for Agriculture, Tony Nsanganira, commended the initiative; noting that it’s in line with the broad program of the Government of Rwanda to streamline the agriculture sector.
“This is really a model that we are promoting not only for honey, but also in other areas,” pointed out the State Minister.
Statistics indicate that Rwanda’s beekeepers produced around 4000 metric tons of honey last year. 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.
And State Minister Nsanganira is confident that 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.
Currently Rwanda counts around 80,000 honey producers owning more than 90,000 hives of which 70% are traditional hives, the State Minister told journalists, adding that a traditional beehive can produce between 3 and 5 kg of honey while a modern beehive can produce up to 90 kg per year; hence a great need to increase modern hives.
Beekeepers in the country operate in four main zones namely Nyungwe, Gishwati, Virunga and Akagera zones.
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.
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