INVESTING IN TREES AND LANDSCAPE ... - PROFOR

Honey
The global trade in honey is valued at approximately $1.4 billion per annum; the main consumers
are the 15 countries of the European Union (EU), 20–25 percent; China, 15 percent; and the United
States, 10 percent (CBI 2009). Whereas global demand for honey and bee products is growing, the
supply is in decline in regions such as North America and Europe. Other producing regions have
seen similar productivity declines in recent years; for example, South America and India were down
by 30–40 percent owing to inclement weather in 2011. These production declines have resulted
in high prices, a trend that is likely to continue given stable or increasing demand (Kamberg 2011).
Africa is uniquely positioned to benefit from the opportunities presented by this trend.
Honey is produced widely across Africa—in deep forest, savanna, lowland, and highland—including
some distinctive specialty honeys found nowhere else in the world. Internal demand for honey in
many African countries is growing rapidly, as middle classes become more aware of the negative
health effects of sugar consumption compared with the perceived health benefits of natural honey.
The advantages of serving local and national market opportunities first include lower transaction
costs (including marketing), less stringent quality criteria, and acceptability of smaller volumes, as
well as reduced transactional risks overall (UNCTAD 2006).
Although some generic honeys of African origin are dark and smoky as a result of traditional methods
of smoking the hive, fine light honeys of specific provenance are available (Slow Food Presidium
2010) as well as the distinctive Mt. Oku white honey of the Cameroon highlands (Niba and Ingram
2008) and the exquisite monofloral shea flower honey of Fada N’Gourma, Burkina Faso.
Quality assurance presents some challenges (Bradbear 2009), but good examples exist of private
sector initiatives on product development and marketing of African honey, some with targeted support
by bilateral and multilateral donors with technical support from NGOs and the national agricultural
research systems (NARS) supported by the Consultative Group on International Research (CGIAR).
Honey Care Africa has operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Sudan, incorporating 12,000
household honey suppliers into the product’s value chain. The organization has introduced improved
hives and beekeeping management that increased honey yield per hive from 15 to 40 kg a year.
Farmers purchase the hives on credit; after repaying the loan, the typical household earns $180 to
$250 a year from honey sales. Studies have found honey production to be profitable and growing
in other countries as well, such as Ghana and Ethiopia.
Timber and Wood Products
In Africa, wood production doubled in two decades, increasing from 340 million m 3 in 1980 to 699
million m 3 in 2000. Over 90 percent of all wood produced in Africa was used as fuel, including
offtakes from forests, where 618 m 3 of 688 m 3 of forest removals in 2008 were for fuelwood (FAO
2010a). The wood supply-demand balance varies by subregion. North Africa is the most wooddeficit
subregion and depends mainly on imports. West Africa has also exhibited a deficit in recent
years, while in East Africa supply and demand are in relative balance. Africa’s share of global wood
production has declined progressively in recent years (FAO 2003b).
Similarly, while the global value of traded forest products increased from $57 billion to $143 billion
between 1980 and 2000, Africa’s portion went from $1.6 billion to $2.9 billion—losing share of
Chapter 1. TREE-BASED AND OTHER LAND MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR LANDSCAPE RESTORATION AND LIVELIHOOD IN AFRICA
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