AFRICA'S CHALLENGES IN ENTERING THE INTERNATIONAL HONEY MARKET
Maria Odido of Bee Natural Products, Uganda

I classify these challenges into two sections...

INTERNAL CHALLENGES

A lack of understanding of business

• The honey sector is quite under-developed: the producers do not understand how to do business.  They are used to producing for consumption and have yet to commercialise.
• The level of business interaction between a producer and a buyer is biased against a producer.  He/she therefore does not have any negotiating skills that would be for the benefit of both parties. 
• The producer also needs to understand that for him/her to enter a commercial market, production needs to move from the current methods to ones that are more modern.

Low rate of production
Production of honey in Africa is still at a subsistence level and therefore all of it is consumed in the local market.  Most producers still use traditional methods of beekeeping.  Due to the cost of modern hives like the top bar hives and frame hives, most producers have continued to use the traditional styles. 

Lack of professionalism
Due to the traditional/subsistence levels of production, there is evidently a lack of professionalism.  This also comes about as beekeeping is a side activity in the homestead where honey is only extracted for family use or sale to small middlemen.  The low level of production does not encourage working in a professional manner.  There is also no knowledge of the requirements of the international markets and therefore no need to become professional

Pricing issues
Producers do not understand the concept of pricing and therefore usually they tend to overprice their bee products. 

Lack of understanding of quality issues
Because most producers supply only the local market, there are not aware of the quality requirements by the international market.  The method of extraction of honey from the traditional hives makes it difficult to ensure a quality product.  There is also a lack of proper harvesting equipment and knowledge of post-harvest handling methods.

EXTERNAL CHALLENGES

Lack of knowledge of African honey
The international market has little knowledge of African honey and its values.  There has been a misconception in the international market that African honey usually has a smoky flavour, for example.  These buyers do not understand that there is a lack of knowledge on how to handle honey by most African producers.

Global, regional and national quality standards for food products
There are many food standard requirements that apply to honey and just because honey is acceptable to one set of standards, does not mean it is acceptable to all.  For example, whilst a honey sample may meet the EU standards some national level requirements may be more rigorous.  Some African honey businesses feel the many and highly rigorous standards to which honey must comply poses a trade barrier for exports.

Ethical trade
The conditions set by ethical trade organisations actually discourage this budding industry from quick growth.  The conditions for becoming certified as Fair Trade are very difficult to meet for the apiculture industry in Africa.

Price distortion
This occurs when buyers from the EU come to purchase products directly from the producer.  As these buyers do not understand how the society in these producing countries work, their involvement does not in anyway develop the producer.  It is a very short term gain for the producer and certainly not sustainable.

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