Honey
Ethiopia: The country belongs to the largest honey producers in Africa and is among the top ten worldwide. [1] The honey production was estimated to 43,000 MT/year with a potential honey production of about 550,000 MT/year. [2] [3] [4]. Approximately 95% of bee hives in Ethiopia are traditional with low productivity. [3] According to Gemechis (2016) traditional beehives produce around 5-8 kg honey. [2] [5], while the average honey yield in modern hives ranges from 15-20 kg. [6] [4] According to FAO, the average amount of honey per hive over 24 years was 7.55 kg and therefore is in agreement with the prior mentioned observations. [7] 70-80% of produced honey is used for the production of Tej (traditional beverage) and the remaining percentage is sold as table honey. [6] [8] [9] 10% of honey is consumed directly by the beekeeping households, while the rest is sold for gaining income. [5] One major quality problem is the high moisture level of honey. Samples from all over the country revealed moisture content between 15.25% and 30.45%. The outcome varies with the type of used hive (traditional hives have 1.5-3.0% higher moisture content than modern hives) and the sample region (highly humid areas are more affected). [5] Honey from traditional hives is often a mixture of pollen, wax and honey, because it is not common among many Ethiopian beekeepers to separate the crude honey from other components. [10] [9] To the favored storage materials for honey belong: plastic bags, tin/barrels, plastic containers, clay/log pots, animal skin. [11] The leading honey and bees wax producing regions in Ethiopia include Oromia (41%), SNNPR (22%), Amara (21%) and Tigray (5%). [9]
References
- ↑ Adeday, G., Shiferaw, M., & Abebe, F. (2012). Prevalence of Bee Lice Braula coeca (Diptera: Braulidae) and Other Perceived Constraints to Honey Bee Production in Wukro Woreda, Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Global Veterinaria, 8(6), 631-635.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 MoARD (2007). Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Livestock Development Master Plan Study. Phase I Report - Data Collection and Analysis, Volume N - Apiculture. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Negash Bekena, & Juergen Greiling. (2017). Quality Focused Apiculture Sector Value Chain Development in Ethiopia. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology A, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.17265/2161-6256/2017.02.005
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Taye, B., Desta, A., Girma, C., & Mekonen, W. T. (2015). Evaluation of Transitional and Modern Hives for Honey Production in Mid Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Global Journal of Animal Scientific Research, 3(1), 1-6.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Gemechis, L. Y. (2015). Honey Production and Marketing in Ethiopia. Agriculture And Biology Journal Of North America, 7(5), 248-253. https://doi.org/10.5251/abjna.2016.7.5.248.253
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Gidey, Y., & Mekonen, T. (2010). Participatory Technology and Constraints Assessment to Improve the Livelihood of Beekeepers in Tigray Region, northern Ethiopia. Momona Ethiopian Journal of Science, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.4314/mejs.v2i1.49654
- ↑ FAO (2018). FAOSTAT database collections. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome. Access date: 2018-04-23. URL: http://faostat.fao.org
- ↑ Legesse, G. Y. (2014). Review of progress in Ethiopian honey production and marketing. Livestock Research for Rural Development 26(1), 1-6.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 SNV/Ethiopia (2005). Strategic intervention plan on honey & beeswax value-chains, snv support to business organizations and their access to markets (boam).
- ↑ Fichtl R. & Adi A. (1994). Honeybee Flora of Ethiopia. Margraf Verlag Germany.
- ↑ Awraris, G., S., Yemisrach, G., Dejen, A., Nuru, A., Gebeyehu, G., & Workneh, A. (2012). Honey production systems (Apis mellifera L.) in Kaffa, Sheka and Bench-Maji zones of Ethiopia. Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, 4(19), 528-541. https://doi.org/10.5897/JAERD12.088
