Local Honey Market Analysis in Mbeya Town in the Pilot REDD Project of Southern Highlands of Tanzania. INTRODUCTION

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1 Local Honey Market Analysis in Mbeya Town in the Pilot REDD Project of Southern Highlands of Tanzania. INTRODUCTION In Tanzania traditional beekeeping is credited for almost all production of honey and beeswax. Tanzania s honey is purely organic and is ranked among the best in the world having passed the International Quality Test in the United Kingdom by 100% for clarity, consistency and low yeast and moisture contents. There are over 34 million hectares of extensive and diverse forest lands hosting 9.2 million colonies of honey bees and a rich reserve of honey and beeswax. High potential for beekeeping is also found in agricultural land where substantial bee products can be harvested from agricultural crops e.g. sunflower, green beans, coffee, coconut, banana and sisal. Mbeya region produces 60,00metric tones of honey and 267metric tones of beeswax. Beekeeping is widely practiced in some parts of Rungwe District. The District produces about 3% of the total honey produced in the Region. The main products obtained include honey and beeswax, which are exploited for commercial purposes. Brief Description of the Pilot Project In addressing local drivers and impacts of degradation and deforestation, the project will implement a Free-trade Mt Rungwe Honey with villages next to Nkuka which are Sykula, Ilolo and kibisi. The project will be responsible for the followings: Locally managed, sustainable Mt Rungwe Honey enterprise set up. Provide capacity building. Market sourcing and linkages through exhibitions/trade fairs. Training especially in processing, packaging, labelling, and Bee hives making. Offer extension and advisory services. Provide equipment for beekeeping and honey processing and packaging. Materials monitoring and evaluation.

2 MARKET PLAN/MARKETING ASPECTS (a) Product Honey Produced will be of Stinging bees and bees wax. Locally honey is demanded as food and as an authentic ingredient in various foods and as a product with healing qualities. Honey meets the needs of consumer and food manufactures alike for a healthy and high performance. Honey produced is sold locally for various uses but mostly for food. (b) Price The prevailing market prices for Honey vary seasonally due to its nature of supply during production harvesting season (Stinging bees). The prices get low in June and July when honey harvesting is high from different areas. In Mbeya town sting less honey bees price range from 15,000Tsh to 18,000Tsh per litter while stinging honey bees range 8,000Tsh to 10,000Tsh per litter ready to sell to consumer. Rungwe produces stinging bee honey which is sold 4,500Tsh per litter and its price does not fluctuate according to season though it may change as marketing factors changes. (c) Market: The expected Market is from within the region, Country and outside the Country. Local rural market has traditionally been the largest for raw honey absorbing over 60% of all honey produced nationwide. The urban market is growing fast and the demand for honey is expanding rapidly. Current supplies do not meet the demand in urban areas. The market for the product will not be a problem because there is a ready market. In Rungwe district honey is produced in small quantity where it s only distributed in the rural areas and in Tukuyu town. (d) Competition: There will be no stiff competition because of high demand of Honey from the Region, Districts and availability of honey and Bees Wax from the Region and out of the Region. Although honey supply in Mbeya depends much from Chunya district,

3 Sumbawanga, Tabora and Njombe still honey demand is high than what is supplied in the market. (e) Distribution Mechanism: The honey produced in our scheme will initially be sold locally in Mbeya with a view to seeking larger markets later. The product will be distributed to the whole seller, retailer, supermarket, Individual and cooperative unions. In Mbeya honey distribution is mostly done by retailers where they buy honey directly from the beekeepers in small quantities depending on its demand. (f) Packing & labelling Honey packaging in Mbeya urban local market is done in small used battles especially the Konyagi, jam and cooking oil. No labelling is done and every seller pack honey by themselves in different weight. (g) Quality The best quality of honey is important in the market. In Mbeya the quality honey is judged by-: less water content, Unheated honey has high quality than heated one, absence of impurities like particles of wax, splinter of wood, bees etc., and colour because the darker colour the honey the higher it mineral contents, aroma and flavour contents. More over ripe honey has more quality than unripe honey which is sold mostly during honey shortage. (h) Opportunities & key success Factors The number of producers is still minimal in the region, only Chunya district produce honey in large quantity this makes honey to be imported from the nearby Regions (Tabora, Rukwa and Iringa) at high cost. Therefore Rungwe honey scheme will have the opportunity to sell honey within the Region since it will be close to the market. Since the Rungwe honey will be unheated, which will be packed and labelled this will also provide an opportunity to win the market.

4 Thought this will be done in the future after we have got enough honey to sell. More over Rungwe honey will be harvested in two seasons per year that is from April to June and August to October. Nevertheless, there is also an opportunity to reach the outside market in southern highland regions and to the nearby countries like Zambia and Malawi. This will only depend on the honey quality and quantity. NB: your all welcome for comments and suggestions. Thankyou We also plan to update this after Nanenane

5 References: Article by Ruth Tan How to Choose Good Quality Honey The marketing of bee products in Tanzania by Mwakatobe A and Mligwa C