Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIANS who engage in bee keeping have a reason to smile following the good news that Tanzania’s honey has met international quality standards, which enables it to penetrate into markets in Europe and US, the National Assembly was told.
Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mary Francis Masanja, informed the august House here in Dodoma that the government worked together with the European Union (EU) in testing quality of the country’s honey in ensuring that the product meets international standards.
Ms Masanja made statement during question-answer session during which she was reacting to Ms Jackline Andrea (Special Seats-CCM) question.
The MP wanted to hear from the government on what measures it had taken to ensure there is honey market for various economic and social development.
In her response, the deputy minister said the ministry had continued with efforts to promote bee keeping and honey production in the country by collaborating with the Tanzania Trade Development Authority (Tantrade) in various trade conferences, exhibitions and workshops within and outside the country.
Currently, the country’s honey production stands at 30,400 tonnes and that large amount of the honey, about 95 percent, is sold in local market.
The remaining five percent is sold in the outside market in the countries of Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, EU, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The government now continues with repair and construction of industries for processing bee produce in the regions of Tabora, Katavi, Kigoma and Geita in order to develop their durability, purity and traceability so as to improve value chain of the produce and increase quality.
The government was also encouraging the introduction and revival of cooperative unions for bee keepers in order to increase production and marketability.
