‘ZAMBIAN HONEY TOO EXPENSIVE’

THE Zambia Honey Council (ZHC) has expressed concern over the high levy charges that have been imposed on the production of honey in the country.

Speaking to The Scoop, ZHC National Coordinator, Bill Kalaluka said despite the honey prices generally expected to be much lower, the exact opposite was true because the players were being heavily levied thereby passing on the cost to the end consumers.

“Honey is bought from farmers at K17 per kilogram and the Forest Department through the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment will charge K9 which we clearly do not understand and the Council will charge K5 also in levy,” Mr. Kalaluka complained.

He explained that taking into account all charges involved and expenses, by the time the honey arrived in Lusaka, losses would have been incurred.

He said that the honey business was not making profit as expected because the Zambian honey was now expensive compared to honey abroad which is cheaper adding that there must be a way to make the business more realistic for those with less money for investment as transportation cost was equally high.

“We are highly levied but what are the authorities doing with the levy charges in order to improve and develop the sector?” he asked.

He emphasized that the honey sector must be run cheaply and not expensive as was the current case and also complained of the bad road network in terms of transportation of honey from different provinces across the country.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry announced that Zambia has increased its export of honey from US$ 684,000 in 2011 to over US$ 6 million in 2022.