TIPEC-ZAS sponsors local honey processor to participate in BIOFACH 2014

Zambia is one of the largest exporters of bee products in Africa, but only 20% of the estimated production is marketed through formal market channels.

Still, honey production in Zambia is steadily increasing and potential export revenue is estimated at 25 million euros. This potential can only be reached with improved productivity and better access to both local and international markets. Embracing this opportunity, SNV developed the Trade and Investment Project for Enhanced Competitiveness of the Zambia Apiculture Sector (TIPEC-ZAS) financed by the Ministry of Commerce and Trade’s Enhanced Integrated Framework programme. The project aims to integrate small producers in the apiculture value chain through commercial and inclusive business arrangements.

In line with this aim, through the TIPEC-ZAS project, SNV sponsored Forest Fruits, a local and organic honey processor, to participate in BIOFACH 2014, the largest organic trade fair in the world based in Nuremberg, Germany. The objective of the trip was to showcase the organic honey and bee products being produced in Zambia and to link the processor with potential international buyers. Through the exhibition, TIPEC-ZAS managed to facilitate the additional sale of 200 tonnes of honey to Belgium. Furthermore, Forest Fruits partnered with a distributor from Denmark to market Zambian honey in northern Europe, and established additional market linkages with international firms based in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Not only is there an increasing international demand for honey, there is a possibility for increased demand for Zambian honey in particular. 80% of the people who tasted Zambian honey at the exhibition preferred it to other types of honey. This encouraged the TIPEC-ZAS team to facilitate further international market linkages for processors such as Forest Fruits, and to research the possibility and potential of exporting table honey.