Tanzanian Government and European Union signed an agreement covering six projects worth 111.5m Euro (307.9bn/-) in grants to promote the development of the Tanzanian economy.

One among the six financed projects by the recent pact is in the beekeeping industry which has much, yet untapped, potential. The financial support of 10m Euros (27.6bn/-) aims at enhancing the industry’s contribution to the country’s overall economic growth. This program is specifically targeted to ensure high quality honey production in a sustainable manner, facilitating increased market penetration.

It should be noted that Tanzania’s beekeeping sector has the capacity to produce 130,000 tons of honey a year, potentially making it amongst the top producers of honey in the world. However this potential is still underutilized. I believe this effort to develop this industry may provide crucial help in bridging the gap between the capacity and actual production of honey in the country.

We have previously looked at Tanzania’s beekeeping and honey sectors in a recent MAV Analysis report – Buzzing? – Key Factors Shaping Beekeeping Industry in Tanzania available in our report store.