The National Honey Show Limited activities culminated into identification and prioritization of constraints facing the honey sub-sector. While a number of issues identified would have merited many agenda, the company fills that the following issues should be tackled in the business plan.

i.        Any meaningful interventions to enhance the competitiveness of the value chain should start with organizing the players, letting them build a platform to interact addressing key chain issues. Any organization already involved in the establishing a supply chain of honey should be fully supported by all stakeholders.

ii.       On the overall, despite its potential, it has failed to attract investment and therefore has remained at subsistence level. We need to commercialize the sector.

iii.      Whatever efforts we do, market is the determining factor, e.g. why improve quality if the market is not ready to pay an extra cost for quality products? Since entry into export market requires strict quality products, let us develop the local market, which shall form the springboard for exports.

The Economic Value of the Honey Sector at a Glance

It is estimated that Tanzania has a natural carrying capacity of 9.2 million bee colonies that can produce about 138,000MT of honey per annum. The value of this honey at the ruling farm gate price (June 2007) is approximately 197billion Tanzanian shillings. The export value of raw honey is approximately USD 200 million while resulting wax is worth

about USD 30million. Hence at primary level, is worth about USD 193 million. Through value addition and external economies (integrated industries), the sector may be able to contribute in excess of 278million USD. There are substantial non monetary benefits including employment creation, nutrition, medicine, sustenance of biodiversity, etc

A number of studies have been carried to ascertain constraints facing the sector, essentially, they are characteristic of challenges facing other subsistence-based sectors.

The Government has been working to create an enabling environment largely responding to the need for the sector to contribute to poverty alleviation rather than building a growth focused, internalized, Self-propelling sectoral capacity. There is a National Beekeeping Policy and the National Beekeeping Programme for 2001 – 2010 in place. Several Acts have been passed to promote honey industry, but The National Honey Show Limited  has  noted that there is still a number legal and regulatory barrier to the growth of the sector if an effective investor-friendly environment is to be achieved. The key missing links have been :-

·        Underrating the potential of honey sector to contribute to the economy hence lack of candid investment promotion drive as noted in other sectors and crops e.g. tourism, mining, coffee, etc.;

·        Lack of clear strategy to attract private sector investment in a big way hence remaining with subsistence-based honey production;

·        Weak coordination of the sector resulting from lack of stakeholder-owned institution like other sectors e.g. the dairy, tea, coffee etc.;

Unless the sector is organized, it is difficult and costly to talk about improving the value chain competitiveness as most of the chain links are not clear, where they can be defined they are relatively weak, information flow is not streamlined, trust among stakeholders is very low and among traders, business is all about competition and none about networking/alliance.

Proposed Institutional Arrangement

The status shows that apart from the Government services that are coordinated from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Marketing, other stakeholders in the chain are largely unorganized. In few areas where there are cooperatives or associations, they are normally confined geographically. Core objectives of the associations are rather horizontal addressing similar challenges in their segment and not vertical i.e. addressing the value chain. While the sector faces a number of inherent constraints, interactions among these organizations are not systemic, they normally spurious and initiated from outside.

 The National Honey Show Limited proposes that steps should be taken, led by the private sector, to look into how the sector could be organized, and that; An organization (network, alliance, association, etc.) be formed that will :-

Spearhead the development of the sector including providing input to legal and policy frameworks, ownership of the sector development process, dialogue, market development, R & D, and representation of the sector in local and International Avenue.

It is suggested that;

To begin with, for cost effectiveness, the organization should be made up of all stakeholders in the chain i.e. beekeepers, traders, packers, exporters and processors”. The segment in the chain would be represented as departments in the organization until such a time that each segment would be strong enough to support establishment of a separate body.

The National Honey Show Limited recognizes the existence of numerous, member-based, grass-root institutional infrastructure in form of beekeepers associations, groups, NGOs, etc. It also recognizes the presence of a number of key stakeholders outside the private sector and the Government domains that play an important role in the development of the honey sector. Any organization to be formed it has to be built from and by the existing institutions (associations, farmer groups, etc.). While time, the operating environment, and other factors might have changed, however, it is important for any effort to organize the sector to take stock of lessons from previous failures and successes in bringing honey stakeholders together.

 Way Forward

In order to further the agenda of getting the sector organized, the company proposed that The National Honey Council should its role will be -

             I.      Consolidate the National Honey Show vision into a clear and realistic                       programme that will focus on putting in place an inclusive, representative, private sector, and member-driven institutional framework for honey stakeholders.

          II.      Create Network of beekeepers to ensure they effectively participate in the policy formulation of the industry and negotiate better price for their products. National Producers Cooperative to be formed only for producers to ensure the production and quality of honey

       III.      Establish a National Website that will facilitate in formation of traceability infrastructure and the registering of beekeepers under Geographical Information System (GIS)

      IV.      Assist Beekeepers to join Fair Trade Organizations.

         V.      That National Honey Show is annual National Event.

 HOW TO MARKET TANZANIA HONEY

Get the sector organized starting with Producer Cooperatives

Improve access to and availability of support services and necessary inputs, first line should be demand/market based support services before moving to other service providers Information on availability of working gear both locally made and imported should be readily accessible by stakeholders for the sector to attract serious investment, it should promise long-term stability. There should be sustainable beekeeping areas protected by law. It is critical that apiary reserves are established where organized stakeholders can have the lead in management under the contract/agreement/MOU with the Government.

In order to promote investment in the sector, an enabling legal and policy framework must be in place. There are a number of issues that render beekeeping unattractive to investors because of lack of recognition by the Government. In planning for the development of the sector, it is important to take into account cross-sectoral issues particularly with the Agriculture, Environment, Livestock, etc.

The country should promote and support honey just as we promote other products e.g. coffee, cashew, cotton, tea, etc. The national promotion cache “Made-in-Tanzania” it is possible to promote our honey along the cache say, “Honey from the Land of Kilimanjaro” and can easily promote under traceability and fair trade concepts.

Information

In order for the sector to develop, information collection, management and dissemination is key point of success. Primarily is the use of a Tanzania Honey website www.tanzaniahoney.org that will be accessible by all stakeholders on honey market and standards, which for example have already been established by TBS. Further information on who is where (necessary for networking and optimizing procurement), spatial honey price indices, prices on inputs, etc. Information on quality management along the chain should be available and quality management should be enforced. Some districts have taken the lead in establishing by-laws on type of containers allowed for honey collection. Stakeholders in the chain should start thinking on how their products can improve traceability. Bar-coding with packed honey should be encouraged to build trust and enhance the image of honey in shelves. In order the beekeepers meet the requirements of traceability a pilot projects should be started immediately in Tabora, Rukwa and Kigoma in order  to register beekeepers under Geographical Information System (GIS) in line with collection centres and   Honey Bank in the same area. The Honey Bank in Dar es Salaam under  The National Honey Show Limited will be used as an outlet for export.

Financing

Most agricultural produce value chains that fail to grow are due unsynchronized cash payment to farmers (credit sales). To build the confidence of farmers most of whom are small, prompt cash payment is an important element in building trust. There is possibility of a factoring system where if the trader cannot meet cash payment, the larger buyer pays farmers for collections made by brokers. The sector needs tailored loans whereby payments could be effected during the honey harvesting/selling period instead of the conventional monthly-amortized payments with most credit schemes. Honey like many exportable, should be covered under the export guarantee schemes that apply with many other products. Tax relief enjoyed by farming inputs should be extended to honey.

PROMOTION OF HONEY MARKET

Value for Money

Honey business should be built on value for money relations, i.e. every stakeholder is aware of the value he/she adds, deserves, and demands a fair share. One option is to encourage contract arrangements between large buyers and beekeepers where they will negotiate fair prices. Cash purchases should be encouraged to stimulate trust and confidence in the chain. The producers / beekeepers association should be registered with the Fair Trade

Organizations in order to get better prices under Fair Trade regulations.

Extended Mutual Benefits

It should be noted that where farmers are organized, some stakeholders in the chain assume more functions to leverage the efficiency of the chain, e.g. The National Honey Show hauls honey from collection centres to the Honey Bank relieving farmers and traders of demand for working capital to transport the products.

Improving Quality

The chain should initiate self-regulating practices (codes of conduct and ethics). It is important that honey quality education is emphasized in the extension services packages. There is a need to develop private sector-led extension services to work along with The National Honey Show Limited and NGOs.

Consumer Information

Enhance consumer awareness through conventional channels such as trade fairs, websites, the mass media, actively participation in the exhibitions e.g. having a permanent pavilion/stall at Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair grounds. Establishing a Website (Tanzania Honey-www.tanzaniahoney.org ) as a platform to exchange information and setting a National Honey Week, which will be a annual event to go along with the National Honey Show event.

Competing Products

In sweetening, sugar and jam are close substitutes and sugar is the most important. Honey however, has some advantages over sugar as it is an ingredient in a wide array of products including that it has medicinal value. With proper market promotion, honey can increase its share in the sweeteners market.

Market segmentation and Product differentiation (Branding)

The honey market needs to be studied in detail to see how the market could be segmented and targeted by various stakeholders. e.g. industrial honey, table honey, medicinal honey, etc. At present, very little information is embedded in packed honey and there is very little differentiation, it is possible to make product differentiation because of market segmentation. Product differentiation could for example base on the type of forests where the honey come from e.g. the Acacia, miombo, etc. (do we have sisal honey as we used to have in the past?)

Research and Development

The sector needs to bring in the fold, the R&D sector. Apparently, there is a lot of knowledge and competencies to help the sector move forward within our local institutions. A good example is the collaboration between Sokoine University and Tan Diary (a milk processing firm) that have developed honey flavoured dairy products.

Listing of Recommendations

 Extension Services

·        Education on improved beekeeping practices to improve yield

·        Education on improving the working environment throughout the chain to safeguard honey quality e.g. temperature, humidity Extension services need to be strengthened.

·        Education on how to use modern hives.

Financial Intermediation

·        Micro-credit facilities are important especially for working gear and beehives.

·        Education on changing the borrowing averse attitude among small beekeepers leads to lost opportunity

·        Establish honey sector development fund targeting private sector development and including leasing facility for capital-intensive inputs.

·        Encourage farmers to form SACCOS and Cooperative Societies in order to ease access to capital.

Information

·        Need for Price Information System (PIS) like with the seven cereals by MIT&M

·        Establishment of a Honey National Website (www.tanzaniahoney.org)

·        There is a need for information repository on the sector including who is where. (System and content)

·        The mapping of the sector is needed to clarify stakeholders roles based on shared the vision for all stakeholders

·        Need to widen scope of understanding in the sector to include global markets through information and exhibitions

·        To establish a national infrastructure on traceability by registering beekeepers in Geographical Information System (GIS)

Inputs and Technology

·        Availability of packing/packaging materials has to be improved, e.g. bottles are not available, sometime don't allow product differentiation.

·        There is a need for facilitating the economies of scale.

·        The National Honey Show Limited and SIDO should help in procurement of bottles. The honey sector should also tap resources with existing institutions.

Promoting the Honey Market

·        There should be special collection centres where honey is exchanged/sold through “HONEY BANK” like with other cash crops

·        There is room niche markets/product, products could be differentiated e.g. through source, season, plants, etc.

·        Labeling as per TFDA and International Standard requirements should be emphasized but TFDA should be clear on the specific terms for honey

·        Need to educate the population of honey consumption.

·        Need for market research and findings shared

·        We need to create trust which is critical in the operations of the chain

·        Poor marketing system leads to price distortions hence uncompetitive products in both the local and export market

·        Need for networking as honey is available in several pockets in the country

·        The presence of imported honey shows how product differentiation is important, we need to be aware and learn.

·        Using country brand to market our honey "Tanzania Produce" Made –in –Tanzania.

·        Promote health benefits of honey just as other products are being marketed.

·        Improve/diversify honey packing material, labeling, product differentiation in promoting product appeal and use convenience

·        There is internal capacity to buy improved beehives, what is needed is knowledge of where they are available and prices.

·        Link and promote local industries that are potential users of honey in Tanzania e.g. pharmaceuticals, etc.

·        In the promotion of honey market we need to use the mass media

·        If we can improve the quality of honey, there are opportunities e.g. the Fair Trade opportunity.

·        When considering of the market, let us remember regional markets.

Organizational Development

·        There is a need to establish an alliance, network, associations etc.

·        In order for honey to have an impact, youths should be encouraged in beekeeping.

·        NGOs should not distort the market, instead should identify constrains, R&D, bringing stakeholders together and identification of opportunities, improving skills.

·        Alliance/associations based on the chain segment beekeepers, packers, processors and exporters

·        Speculative pricing system affects the farm gate as well as consumer price suppressing consumption.

·        The transactions are not on necessarily on win-win situation, suppliers could be benefiting more than other segment.

Product and Quality Improvement

·        Creativity is needed to encourage diversification of honey uses.

·        In promoting local consumption, there is a need to diversify honey uses including promotion of honey-based products.

·        Production volume needs to be improved.

·        Stock taking of the potential apiary is important in order to have sustainable industry.

·         We need to improve the management of bee colonies. There is disappearance of bee colonies as tress and natural nests are disappearing.

·        Strengthen pest controls

·        Promote Fair Trade and organic honey because of the higher value, liaise with FLO & EPOPA

·        Widen honey harvesting to plantation/farms e.g. in eucalyptus, sunflower, sisal, etc.

·        Laboratory for honey, see possibility to use existing facilities TFDA, TBS, TIRDO and MNRT have set standards that Tanzanian honey can afford.

·        The importance of awareness on the quality need to be emphasized throughout the chain from the farm level to consumer.

Improving the Legal/Regulatory Regime

·        It is high time beekeeping reserves are established and instituted.

·        In the process to develop the sector, let us not politicize the processes, let the private sector lead.

·        Need for TFDA , TBS and The National Honey Show to work with MIT&M on regulations e.g. expiry dates.

·        In an effort to safeguard the quality of honey, some districts have established and are enforcing by-laws on the quality/type of containers allowed in the apiaries, this could be emulated with other districts.

·        There is a pressing need to improve the management of apiaries, note that the distance to apiaries increasing hence the cost of production.

·        Confusion between restricted natural resources and "honey" need to be legally clarified and law enforcers informed accordingly.

·        Streamlining working arrangement between hunters and honey beekeepers

·        Need for commercial approach to beekeeping, this has been demonstrated in Kasulu and therefore could be replicated.

·        Tax relief existing in agriculture should be extended to honey e.g. subsidy to inputs, tax-free to farm equipment.

Technology

·        Honey processing technologies (equipment and knowledge) should be commercially readily and information shared.

·        Improve access to high quality containers  Appraise the possibility for automatic packing machines (that could even be a shared services)

Strengthen links with R&D institutions e.g. Universities - tie up with technology innovation clusters.