Review on Actors and their Value Adding Activities in Honey Value chain; Challenges and Opportunities in Ethiopia

This review was conducted to assess actors and their value adding activities in honey value chain in Ethiopia. The objective is specifically to review the production and marketing of honey, to review the different functions, actors and service providers along the honey value chain and to review the challenges and opportunities in honey value chain development. Ethiopia has huge apicultural resources that made it the leading honey producer in Africa similarly, exports honey to different destination countries. The country has the potential of producing up to 500,000 tons of honey per annum. But currently production is limited to 50,000 tons of honey and the commercialization of other high value bee products such as pollen, propolis and bee venom is not yet practiced at a marketable volume, even not yet recognized. And still the country is facing with many constraints of beekeeping such as shortage of trained manpower, shortage of beekeeping equipment, adulteration, lack of value addition, pests and predators and inadequate research works to support development programs. To make considerable improvement on beekeeping sub-sector, it is essential that the government and relevant development partners work hand in hand to design and promote forums and how to add value onto the products.