Beekeeping is one of the sectors with a huge untapped potential to contribute to household income and foreign earnings.

It is also one of the easy-to-start yet profitable businesses and requires less input compared to other agribusiness ventures.

According to Savannah Honey, a Kenyan social enterprise that trains interested beekeepers on modern beekeeping, honey is five times more expensive than oil.

Savannah Honey observes that the demand for the sweetener is increasing not only in Africa itself but all over the world, pointing out big money for those in the business.

In the Kenyan market, one kilo of honey is priced at between $5-$11 (Sh700-Sh1,500), five times the cost of a liter of petrol. In the Arab market, a jar of honey can fetch almost double this amount ($15-$25 equal to Sh2000-Sh3500).

It is a price tag that has honey producers all over the world salivating. Since independence, Kenya has had a deficit in honey production which leads to over 80% of honey processed in Kenya being imported from Tanzania, while there is a lot of potential for beekeeping in the country.

We help farmers start commercial bee keeping, buy their honey

Leading honey producers in Africa, such as Ethiopia, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, have the same favorable climatic conditions for beekeeping as Kenya.

However, many farmers in Kenya are yet to commercialize honey production as the sector is still regarded as a preserve of the poor. This has been the case while there is a huge market for the product in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

These realities have pushed Savannah Honey to step up with ways to maximize Kenya’s potential. The platform has been at the forefront of empowering interested beekeepers by offering training on modern beekeeping.

It also provides farmers with Langstroth beehives and other beekeeping equipment and helps them in the management of the apiaries, provision of bees, as well as technical support and marketing of the honey.

“Bee-keeping in Kenya has been practiced traditionally for many years.  However, only 20% of the country’s honey production potential (estimated at 100,000 metric tonnes) has been tapped” – Says Kyalo Mutua Maveke, the CEO of Savannah Honey

Savannah Honey observes that honey yields are low on traditional hives compared to modern Langstroths, which also give healthy honey in terms of handling and harvesting.

The platform is calling on farmers interested in making money from beekeeping to enroll in its newly launched program targeting 7,000 farmers who may not necessarily have time or land for beekeeping but are interested in making money from modern beekeeping.

Through this program, interested clients, upon purchasing the beekeeping equipment, will have Savannah Honey managing the apiaries and the entire enterprise for them and buy the honey after the harvest.

For those who do not have land, Savannah Honey will lease land for them to undertake the enterprise. The institution has so far impacted the lives of over 4,000 farmers in East Africa.

Savannah Honey can be Contacted via +254 724 052 975 / [email protected] / www.savannahhoney.org