It is estimated that it costs 30 million dollars every year for 10 million Nigerian households to each consume about 1 liter of honey on average, and half of this honey is imported.
Ambassador Lot Egopija, General Consul of Nigeria in New York, spoke at the 2022 World Bee Conference, where the theme was The Economic Impacts of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators. According to him, lush green vegetation, and expansive lands make Nigeria a prime candidate full of potential to become the largest honey producer and honey product manufacturer in Africa.
He urges foreign investors to invest in bee farming in Nigeria and to utilize the investment opportunities. To this end, he promises support for foreign investors interested to invest in bee farming. Nigeria participates in duty-free trade with ECOWAS member countries. It is also the largest economy in Africa and the largest consumer market in West Africa.
This unrelated 14:32-minute video by Agroraf farms shows how to catch bees in Nigeria:
Turning the current situation into dollars, the bee economy currently accounts for an intake of $4.5 billion. It is estimated that the honey market could expand to $10 billion annually.
Egopija says that Nigeria intends to transition from an oil-based economy to an environmentally conscious green economy. This is a long-term agenda that will promote conservation, and food security by way of agriculture.
World Bee Day is celebrated annually on May 20 around the world to draw attention to the importance of protecting bees and other pollinators for the survival of humanity. Bees are a key part of any plan to eliminate hunger in developing countries, and to solve global food supply chain problems.
The actions of humanity have caused many of the problems that threaten pollinators like bees, bats, butterflies, and hummingbirds. As some of these creatures become more endangered it is up to people to figure out how to protect and save as many of these creatures as possible.
Without insect and animal pollination, the world would suffer a catastrophic food shortage.
Nigeria hopes that large quantities of different grades of honey can be sourced and packaged locally for export with an inflow of appropriate foreign investment funds. The honey could then be exported. This would help to relieve foreign exchange pressures caused by honey imports.
We have blogged about bees and beekeeping in many African and other developing countries in recent months where governments have created incentives for their citizens to become beekeepers. It is curious that the push to expand beekeeping in Nigeria is not aimed at educating and supplying Nigerians to become beekeepers, which would surely be good for the local economy. Instead it is aimed at bringing foreign money into the country to expand the honey business.