Bee-keeping, Nigeria’s untapped goldmine, says agric ministry official

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) in Abuja. Kwange said that leveraging on the bee industry would help earn […]

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) 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.”