Despite 80 percent of the world's honey being counterfeit, made with corn syrup, flavoring, and food coloring, Ghana is reviving the profitability of authentic honey and contributing to the recovery of the honeybee population!
It is an undeniable fact that honey holds a significant position as one of the most sought-after commodities in Ghana's local and international markets, showcasing immense economic potential. However, a crucial question arises regarding the level of awareness among beekeepers and other stakeholders in the honey value chain about the vast health and economic benefits that honey offers.
In a proactive move towards ensuring that honey meets the standards for both local consumption and export purposes, a collaborative effort involving GIZ, QSI, AGRIVIMS, and their respective partners has been initiated. This initiative took the form of a stakeholder workshop under the theme: “Make Ghana Honey Fit for Local and Export Project”, marking the beginning of a project aimed at revitalizing Ghana's honey sector.
During the workshop, Prof. Peter Kwapong, the Chairman, emphasized the profitability of honey as a product. However, he pointed out that the industry's potential is hindered by the lack of a well-structured framework and development, primarily stemming from a deficit in skills and market information. This insight underscores the critical need for capacity-building and knowledge dissemination within the honey sector to unlock its full economic potential.
Prof. mentioned that honey is a lucrative business and indubitably it is one of the major products of beekeeping. According to him, the project would provide the needed capacity building to enhance quality honey production for local consumption and export.
“Beekeepers will be equipped with the needed knowledge and skills about beekeeping to boost the quality of honey harvested for local consumption and exporting”, Prof Kwapong added.
He urged the youth to venture into beekeeping to benefit from the great opportunities associated with the sector.
The project will help Ghana to export quality honey to the international market. Even though Ghana has challenges of honey consumption, this project is to support the honey sector with the training of the beekeepers, honey packers, and the value addition on honey for utilization, the Acting Director of CSIR-Food Research Institute, Prof. Charles Tortoe said.
He underscored the need to bring all the stakeholders together to work to achieve the objective of producing quality honey for the local market and international market. A report by the government highlighting the value of Ghana's unique Green Orange Honey circulated in 2013 and was one of the reasons the government is willing to invest in this high potential endeavor having lost out on the gourmet green, orange market to Maylasia at the time.
Most of us associate oranges’ warm, golden hue with sunshine and Vitamin C. So, let’s be honest. Would a glass of fresh orange juice be as appealing if squeezed from green fruit? In fact, every ripe orange IS green. Only the right weather or artificial processing makes it orange. But its the blossom that makes the honey special.
“There are a lot of opportunities in honey in the international market but how to utilize these opportunities has become a challenge and this project would serve as a catalyst to this challenge”, Prof. Tortoe said.
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