Ethiopia, Africa’s leading honey producer and ranked tenth globally, has set an ambitious target to increase honey production to over 375,000 tons in the 2024/25 fiscal year. However, despite its vast potential, the sector faces significant market challenges that hinder producers from securing fair prices and accessing direct market linkages.
Speaking at the Youth Education Summit in Addis Ababa, State Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Fikru Regassa, highlighted the government’s vision to make beekeeping a key driver of youth employment and rural economic development. “Ethiopia has long been a country with a tradition of beekeeping. However, we are now unlocking its real economic, social, and environmental potential,” he stated.
With the capacity to support 44 to 62 million bee colonies, the sector could create jobs for 7 to 10 million young people. However, local producers in high-yielding regions like Oromia and southwestern Ethiopia report difficulties in finding suitable markets. Many are forced to sell their honey at low prices due to the lack of a direct market system.
“Although we produce large quantities of honey, we struggle to get fair prices because there is no system that allows us to sell directly,” said one producer. Currently, a kilogram of honey sells for less than 400 birr at the production level but fetches up to 800 birr in Addis Ababa, underscoring a significant price disparity.
Ethiopia exports honey to countries such as Sudan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Japan, and the United States. While this reflects strong international demand for Ethiopian honey, local producers have yet to fully benefit from these opportunities due to systemic issues in the value chain. Experts estimate Ethiopia’s annual honey production at 45,000 metric tons but believe it has the potential to produce up to 500,000 tons of honey and 50,000 tons of beeswax annually.
The International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), in collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation, is working on a five-year project called MoYESH to empower farmers and unemployed youth in the beekeeping value chain. While this initiative has helped thousands of young entrepreneurs earn livelihoods and create jobs, persistent challenges such as limited access to finance, weak market linkages, and inadequate policy frameworks continue to hinder progress.
Dr. Abdou Tenkouano, Director-General of icipe, emphasized these hurdles during the summit: “Critical challenges such as access to finance and market linkages remain barriers for producers.” He added that addressing these issues requires targeted interventions such as specialized financial instruments and policy reforms that eliminate gender-based and systemic discrimination in rural areas.
Dr. Fikru Regassa underscored the need for significant investment in expanding access to finance, land, inputs, and infrastructure for youth-led agricultural businesses. He also called for stronger public-private partnerships in marketing and processing honey products while leveraging opportunities created by initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“Let us seize this opportunity to make beekeeping the foundation of Ethiopia’s green, inclusive, and youth-led rural transformation,” he urged stakeholders.
