THE Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has described the bee keeping business  as Nigeria’s untapped goldmine.

Dr Dooshima Kwange, Director and Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) of the ministry, made this known when she visited the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

Kwange said that leveraging on the bee industry would help earn Nigeria greater assets than crude oil.

According to her, it is for this reason  that the ministry is open to collaboration with foreign partners.

“The market worldwide is huge almost 2billion dollars annually and we are really not tapping into it because we have not paid attention to this industry.

“So when they came, we agreed to tap into it because most of our people are crop farmers so it will benefit them.

“In some other climes, people pay the bee keepers to take them  to their farms to pollinate their crops .

“So if you don’t farm yourself and you have a relative that farms and you keep bees there, the person benefits and you will also benefit.

“A barel of honey is about  2000 dollars ,so the APS  the benefits as we see them are  to get our people to embrace it ,it will improve our lively.”

Kwange added that the  ApiExpo Africa 2018 would hold from 25th to 29th of September 2018 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja  under the theme, “Beekeeping Industry for Sustainable Development, Wealth Creation and Economic Diversification”.

According to her, the Expo  is an intercultural and intercontinental honey  show run by an NGO based in kampala  Ugnada.

She said that the event was usually held in collaboration with countries to promote  the bee keeping industry by supporting  the ministry of agriculture  and other stakeholders.

Kwange said that the bee keeping industry in Nigeria was young, even though the business had been ongoing over the  years on the local scene.

She said that the government was working on modernising the business.

The director added that  the government was also trying to diversify into other sectors of the economy, especially in agriculture, and move away from oil.

According to her, the beauty about the industry is that it is not as expensive as other ventures.

She added that for that and other factors, it would be easy to go into the business.

“It is said that if we don’t have bees, give us three ,four years ,we will be extinct as human beings    because bees pollinate about 75 per cent of our crops .

“So bees are doing us a  favour. Apart from that,  the other benefits are huge.

“Most people know about honey, but not its other products  like wax and others which  are used for the production of  cosmetics,  medicines etc.”

Kwange, therefore, urged Nigerians to embrace bee keeping for it’s numerous benefits and leverage on the market to improve their living standard.

She also advised Nigerians to attend the forthcoming conference as it would be a good learning ground for people interested in venturing into the business.

She said that her visit to NAN was to enable her to leverage on the agency’s wide coverage to encourage Nigerians to embrace bee keeping.

Responding, Mrs. Nkechi Okoronkwo, the Acting Editor-In-Chief, NAN, assured the ministry of the agency’s support, even though it was already working closely with the ministry.

Okoronkwo said that NAN as a government agency was saddled with the responsibility of acting as the watchdog of the society to promote development in the country.

She pledged that NAN would use its extensive reach to sensitise Nigerians to the benefits inherent in the bee industry. (NAN)

– Aug. 20, 2018 @ 10:19 GMT |