The third phase of a project initiated by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds that seeks to create a commercial honey-producing capacity among residents of the Upper Mazaruni has been completed according to Project Coordinator Linden Stewart.
Speaking with Stabroek Business recently Stewart said that the most recent phase of the project which is being supported by funding provided by the Prime Minister and which was completed in December involved the setting up of 20 hives in several Upper Mazaruni villages including Waramadong, Kako and Jawalla. Earlier phases of the project involved the installation of ten hives in the same villages. More than 80 residents of the Upper Mazaruni communities have also been trained to manage the hives under the programme.
According to Stewart the earlier phases of the bee-keeping project cost $1m while the recently completed phase cost $1.235m, Meanwhile Stewart told Stabroek Business that he is shortly to embark on a further bee-keeping programme in the Upper Mazaruni utilizing funding provided by the German Government. Stewart told Stabroek Business that a US$10,000,00 grant received from the German Government recently would be used to set up seventy more hives in the Upper Mazaruni area and to help consolidate the training already provided to residents of the area.
Stewart told Stabroek Business that Guyana had, over the years, failed to exploit its potential as a honey-producing country. He said that there were around 2,000 hives currently established across Guyana that produced around 4,000 gallons of honey annually. However, Stewart said that over the years the industry had received no real support from government and, as such, had been unable to coordinate its efforts to transform the industry into a viable export sector.
Stewart disclosed that Banks DIH Ltd imports 4,000 gallons of honey annually valued at around $14m as a sweetener for its Malta beverage. He said the Upper Mazaruni beekeepers would be targeting that market in the future.
Stewart who says that he is hoping to meet with Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud shortly says that he trusts that recent policy pronouncements regarding support for non-traditional areas of the country’s agricultural sector would see more official attention being paid to the bee keeping. He told Stabroek Business that in 1991 a project funded by the European Union and the Government of Guyana had provided training for bee keepers in Region Ten as part of a broader project to develop non-traditional agricultural products in the region.
Stewart told Stabroek Business that his own company had commenced discussions with a Barbadian importer during last year’s GuyExpo and that he was hopeful of exporting honey and bees wax later this year.
Stewart says that even with a modest effort Guyana can produce millions of gallons of honey annually. The current price of honey on the international market is approximately US$12,00 per gallon.