Value addition in seven districts due to make honey strategic crop

02Feb 2024
Francis Kajubi
DODOMA
News
The Guardian
Value addition in seven districts due to make honey strategic crop

THE government issued 64,593 modern beehives to beekeepers in the past five years as part of a plan to make honey a strategic economic crop.

Dunstan Kitandula, Deputy Minister for Tourism and Natural Resources said this in the National Assembly yesterday when responding to a question by Athuman Maige, Tabora North MP who wanted to know the government’s efforts towards making honey a strategic cash crop.

He said during the period, the government facilitated the establishment of seven honey processing and packaging factories in Sikonge, Mlele, Nzega, Tabora, Manyoni, Kibondo and Bukombe districts.

“The plants have been doing value addition for honey to be traded at local and foreign markets. The government is currently implementing various programmes with the target of boosting honey production,” he said.

According to him, the government has been lobbying for honey markets in Europe and Asia. He said that the government in collaboration with development partners is administering honey production projects in five regions of Tabora, Singida, Katavi, Kigoma and Shinyanga.

He added that the government is finalizing the beekeeping sector development plan that is meant to fast-track honey export and creation of employment especially for youth and women.

He said beekeeping is one of the key economic activities, especially by communities living near reserved forests. Beekeeping guarantees food security for such communities.

In a supplementary question, Joseph Kakunda, Sikonge legislator (CCM) wanted to know when the ministry will consider budgeting and research in the honey value chain and market intelligence as the crop is scheduled to be economically strategized.

The deputy minister responded that the plan is being finalized, calling for parliamentarians to be patient since the ministry was keen on making the plan a reality.

Last October, Tanzania’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mbelwa Kairuki, and encouraged Tanzanians to exploit opportunities brought about by the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) which came into effect on 19 June 2023 so as to explore the UK’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP).

 

 

         

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