Zambia Looks to Honey for Economic Salvation

As the Zambian economy goes through a very rough patch, the country has expressed her commitment towards ensuring that rising debt is contained within sustainable levels even as the austerity measures introduced by the President kicks in. The fluctuation in commodities prices has had a very negative impact on the economy which has led to high debt levels and shrinking foreign currency reserves with no expectations of substantial growth. Zambia’s external debt rose to $10.05 billion at the end of 2018, compared with $8.74 billion a year earlier, raising fears that the country is headed for a debt crisis. Zambia has delayed the receipt of loans totaling $2.6 billion contracted last year in order to rein in its soaring debt.

This has led the country to look inwards for ways of addressing the situation, and one of the most practical options available is honey export. Zambia hopes to use honey export as a cushion for falling Copper prices. This follows spates of economic adjustment measures launched by the government recently which has seen to the reduction in the cost of running the government via the medium-term debt strategy.

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Though the country has made progress in its energy sector reforms, intended to leave fuel imports to the private sector and to increase electricity tariffs to cover the cost of producing the power, the President said that Zambia could generate adequate resources internally to meet its development needs but this was being compromised by low tax compliance levels.

As the second largest copper producer on the African continent, Zambia has been trying to expand exports beyond the metal while diversifying its economy and lifting thousands out of poverty, for instance, developing honey export. Tons of raw honey used to be sold cheap or to brew alcohol in the country, but now it is processed to be unique products and then exported to the rest of the world, which has become a driving force for the country to fight against poverty.

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Currently, the country’s honey production sitting at 2,000 tons per year is set to grow to over 10,000 tons because of increased exports, whose value has already jumped from 1.6 million U.S. dollars in 2015 to 3.1 million U.S. dollars in 2018. According to the acting director of Export Promotion agency Jessica Chombo, ‘’we have been known to be copper producers for centuries, now we want to diversify and go into other industries. Honey exports can be a key component in the growth of the economy and fight against poverty in Zambia through job and wealth creation”. More than 30,000 rural bee-keepers are expected to propel the industry – which has radically changed their way of life. A Bee farmer in Zambia was quoted as saying that Bee keeping can really help people out there where there is nothing. “Like where we are getting this honey, there is literally nothing, there’s just dense forest, a couple of mud huts, this and that. So that way we feel proud in a sense,” he added.

 

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.