PRESS RELEASE - NIGERIA TO TAP INTO MONEY SPINNING APICULTURE INDUSTRY: AUDU OGBEH.

The Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh receiving the symbolic honey touch from the Chairman of APIEXPO Africa 2018 Dr. Mrs. Dooshima Kwange.

Nigeria will soon join the comity of nations renowned for honey exports after securing accreditation and certification of its honey from the European Union Commission.

When this happens, Nigeria will join select nations like Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Benin, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Ghana famous for honey production.

The Honorable Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh gave this hint on Thursday at the official flag off ceremony for the national sensitization of APIEXPO Africa 2018, held in Abuja.

The Minister expressed displeasure that Nigeria is still  one of the  countries that has not tapped  Apiculture to the fullest despite its position as  number one  world producer of  Maize  with a total  of 10million tons per annum and  second producer of  Sorghum/Millet .

Ogbeh called on Bee keepers and other stakeholders to encourage more Nigerians to embrace Apiculture which has lots of benefits such as job creation, food security and livelihood improvement.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture Dr.Bukar Hassan who was ably represented by the Director, Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA), Dr. AminuBabandi highlighted the main objectives of Apitrade Africa as the promotion of trade in Bee production which will further boost the nation’s  Apiculture and attract more investments in the sector. Apiculture he said, offers opportunities for job creation, food security and livelihood improvement.

Development partners and Stakeholders who were represented at the occasion and presented good will messages include the European Union, UNIDO, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the National Apiculture Platform (NAP) and Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) underscored the importance of Bee keeping in the country.

All the Development partners congratulated Nigeria for securing the hosting rights for the ApiExpo Africa 2018 and pledged their support to make the  Expo a huge success.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of Apiculture Africa, Mr. Bosco Okello while delivering a paper on “TheImpact of ApiExpo Africa on the Honey Bee Industry”, noted that the Expo was for economic drive, social mobilization and implementation of friendly policies by governments in addition to boosting tourism and encouragement of trade in products and equipment.

Highlight of the flag off was the handing over of the symbolic honey touch to the Honorable Minister by the Chief Executive Officer of Apitrade Africa, Mr. Bosco Okello and the subsequent hand over of the touch to the Chairman of the APIEXPO Africa 2018, Dr. Mrs. Dooshima Kwange.

“The ApiExpo Africa 2018 …beyond the Hives” main event comes up from 25^th to 29^th September, 2018 in Abuja with the theme “Beekeeping Industry for Sustainable Development: Wealth Creation and Economic Diversification.