Honey certification on cards, to find passage to EU

Though honey exports offer potentially large opportunities, as demand and price for honey is growing internationally, certification has become a key barrier for export.

As Nepal produces large quantities of high quality uncontaminated honey which could fetch high prices, its certification to meet international standards will boost exports, said programme officer of UNDP Nabina Shrestha.

Despite being listed in the NTIS products list, in recent times, honey export has seen a plunge as according to Trade and Export Promotion Centre's (TEPC) data, the country had exported honey worth only Rs 5,000 in the eight months of the current fiscal year, against exports of Rs 215,000 in the same period of last fiscal year.

Organic Certification Nepal — in coordination with Micro Enterprise Development Programme (MEDEP) — is helping with the production, collection, and processing of honey, whereas the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control has also sent a Residue Monitoring Plan to the European Commission for its approval.

"Organic Certification Nepal — a registered national company linked to international certification agencies through an alliance called the Certification Alliance — is subcontracted to provide organic certification," it said, adding that honey produced under the strict supervision of certified inspectors is further certified as organic honey.

Organic honey produced especially in the far western region, has a large potential in international niche markets and can be sold at relatively high prices, but quality certification is a must for importers, especially the European Union (EU), which has stringent regulations relating to the production and trade of honey. Currently, only 40 non-EU countries are eligible to export honey to the EU.

The main global standards that apply to the export of honey are the Codex Alimentarius, which defines what honey is, sets maximum levels for moisture content, sugar, and water soluble solids, lists contaminants, and defines hygiene and other standards.

Both the Codex Alimentarius and the EU have set strict limits on the residues of veterinary drugs, pesticides, and heavy metals in honey and demand that exporting countries have systems in place to monitor residues. The EU requires monitoring for the presence of residues throughout production, collection, and processing.

As much of the honey produced in Nepal is organic or almost organic by default because of the low use of inputs, certification will help promote its export, Shrestha added.

Suppliers who want to export organic honey to the international market need to have their products certified as meeting organic production standards. The main purpose of organic certification is to assure quality and prevent fraud. Most organic certification is carried out by third party certifying agencies.

According to a MEDEP report, Nepal produces 10,000 tonnes of honey annually. An estimated 125,000 beehives have been installed by farmers.

Nepali honey can beat other competitors in the international market due to its unique flavour because of the climatic conditions and flora. "It has also improved the socioeconomic conditions of poor farmers," said Shrestha, adding that their increasing income has helped improve their living standard too.

According to a micro entrepreneur of Aalital in Dadeldhura, Yagya Bahadur Bohara, his economic condition has changed due to beekeeping that he started some 12 years ago. "I earn Rs 200,000 to Rs 250,000 annually, which has brought significant changes in my lifestyle," he said, adding that the increased income — apart from agriculture — has helped him take care of the education and health needs of his children. "I have also provided employment to three people."

 

Definition of honey

Honey is defined and described by the inter-governmental body for global food standards — the Codex Alimentarius Commission — as the natural sweet substance produced by honeybees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store, and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature. Honey consists essentially of different sugars, predominantly fructose and glucose as well as other substances such as organic acids, enzymes, and solid particles derived from honey collection. The colour of honey varies from nearly colourless to dark brown. The consistency can be fluid, viscous or partly to entirely crystallised. The flavour and aroma vary, but are derived from the plant origin. — (Source: CAC 2001)

 

Production over the years

Year — Tonne

2004 — 577

2005 — 600

2006 — 650

2007 — 650

2008 — 1,000

2009 — 850

2010 — 1,100

(Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation 2012)

Nepal fourth largest ginger producing country

Nepal should increase the production of ginger to become the topmost ginger producing country from its current status of being the fourth largest producer, according to experts.

It is not only production that has to be increased to become the world’s number one or second producer, but market intelligence also has to be increased to explore the international market, said deputy director of Department of Agriculture Iswor Prasad Risal at a workshop organised here by the National Spices Crop Programme and Micro-Enterprise Development Programme (MEDEP) along with other agriculture departments.

"There are a few programmes for market promotion of ginger and other agricultural commodities but it is not sufficient," he said, adding that Post Harvest Directorate will also build capacities to improve the quality of ginger to make it more competitive in the international market. "Ginger alliance has a big role to play and should also work in verifying and authenticating database, besides coordination and fund management."

Nepal is the world’s fourth largest producer of ginger after India, China and Indonesia but organised value chain development will help it become the topmost producer, participants said.

Agricultural diversification and commercialisation have drawn the attention of planners and policy makers in terms of generating more income, employment opportunities, and biodiversity conservation, according to them. "However, cultivation of high-value low-volume fruits and vegetables like ginger and concentration on production, processing and marketing will help in the sustainable development of the sector."

Ginger — one of the 19 products and services in the Nepal Trade Integration Strategy (NTIS) 2010 — farming is one of the main sources of cash income for the small farmers of the hills and could help reduce poverty.

India, China, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Thailand are currently the main producers of ginger, which is one of the most important cash crops grown in the mid hill marginal and sub marginal lands. "It can contribute in raising the socio economic status of rural farmers and also help in earning foreign currency coupled with decreasing environment degradation," they added.

However, India is the only major foreign market for Nepali ginger at present.

"Research and development on production, processing and marketing with more efforts, commitments and investment will help Nepal position itself in the global ginger exporting countries map," said participants, adding that lack of transportation is one of the bottlenecks for the expansion of ginger export market as 12 districts share more than half of the total area and production, as production pockets of ginger.

 

Global production

Country— Production (tonnes)

India — 420,0002

China — 285,0003

Indonesia—  177,0004

Nepal—  158,9055

Nigeria—  138,0006

Bangladesh—  57,0007

Japan — 42,0008

Thailand — 34,0009

Philippines — 28,00010

Sri Lanka—  8,270

World — 1,387,445

(Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation, 2009)

Lack of policy implementation hits honey promotion

Due to the lack of policy implementation, synergy among development partners helping honey producers, coupled with low consumption in the domestic market has hurt the honey market chain, said experts during an interaction on 'Honey value chain', organised by the Directorate of Commercial Entomology Development, Department of Agriculture, and Ministry of Agriculture Development, in support with the Ministry of Industry, and Micro-enterprise Development Programme under UNDP, here today.

"Though honey is a competitive and high value product, it has not been able to grab the attention of domestic consumers due to lack of awareness," said an officer at SNV Surendra Joshi. SNV is one of the development partners helping promote honey.

The per capita consumption of honey in Nepal stands at less than 50gm, which is very low as compared to other countries, he said, adding that lack of policy implementation has hit the promotion of honey.

The country had, some seven years back, brought a policy to promote honey and reduce poverty, but government agencies failed to implement it making people suffer.

"Despite the policy being in place for the last seven years, honey could not be promoted due to lack of ownership and institutionalisation," said joint secretary at the ministry of agriculture development Prabhakar Pathak.

"Besides increasing domestic consumption, honey also needs a market strategy to boost exports," he said, adding that it could be linked to the Agriculture Development Strategy for a better response.

Likewise, presenting his paper, an official at the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) Rajendra Singh said that the country has the potential to produce over 10,000 tonnes of honey. "But an unorganised supply chain, scattered production, and low supply capacity have made honey export cumbersome," he added.

According to TEPC data, Bangladesh is the key market for Nepali honey, as it had imported $79,000 worth of honey from Nepal in 2011, of the total $83,000 worth of honey exported from Nepal. "Nepal had exported a total of 33.442 tonnes of honey in 2011," the data revealed.

"Though Japan has offered zero tariff to Nepal for honey export, we have failed to exploit the Japanese market," Singh added. "Nepal can export honey to Belgium, Germany and the US as these markets have been importing honey in increased amounts."

The total global export volume of honey stands at 500,000 tonnes, whereas China alone exports 99,988 tonnes and Argentina exports some 72,356 tonnes, according to data. Similarly, global imports grew by 15 per cent in value and four per cent in quantity from 2007 to 2011.

However, Nepal needs to commercialise the development and promotion of honey to increase its competitive strength, establish resource centres — including queen breeding — establish accredited Testing and Certification Laboratory of international standards, update laws, regulations and strictly implement for quality and standard, organise training programmes on production and processing, use of insecticides and pesticides, and sensitise farmers on the benefits of beekeeping, pollination and demerits of pesticides.

Churi has huge potential

Churi — a fruit berry that is found in the hilly districts of Nepal — can generate employment for around 150,000 people if the government can help boost its development.

"Around 50 districts have Churi," according to national programme manager of Micro Enterprise Development Programme (MEDEP) Dr Lakshman Pun.

Aesandra butyracea or popularly known as Churi in Nepal can help produce some 17,825 metric tonnes of honey, he said, adding that at the rate of Rs 200 per kg of honey, Nepal can earn around Rs 3.5 billion from Churi — that flowers for three months in a year — honey.

Similarly, it can also help produce 37,245 metric tonnes of butter and herbal soap from Churi could earn the country around Rs 26.81 billion, Pun added. "The total employment generation from the honey and soap production of Churi could be around 150,000," he informed.

Churi is a medium sized tree native to Nepal and is abundantly found in the mountain areas between 300 to 2,000 msl. It can reach heights of up to 20 metres and the seeds from Churi trees produce fatty acid oils that are mainly used as vegetable butter in rural areas.

According to a resource assessment of Churi undertaken by Micro Enterprise Development Programme, out of the 75 districts of Nepal, almost 50 districts are known to have Churi plants.

The geographical distribution extends from Darchula, Baitadi and Dadeldhura districts in the far-west to Dhankuta and Ilam districts in the east. The total number of Churi trees in the country is estimated at 10.8 million, according to MEDEP. The highest number of trees (almost 40 per cent) are found in the mid-western development region, which is followed by far western development region.

These two regions combined account for about 70 per cent of the total number of trees in the country respectively.

There are an estimated 5.6 million Churi trees at fruit bearing stage in the country with the potential to produce 37,245 metric tonnes of butter, the study revealed, adding that there is a huge potential in terms of resource availability to produce Churi butter as well as honey.

The common method followed by micro-entrepreneurs for Churi herbal soap making is based on what is called the 'Cold Process Soap Making'. Herbal soap making is a specialised process with a wide diversity in type of ingredients used depending on the target markets consisting of low end and upscale consumers.

There are various kinds of oils, essential oils, and fragrances available that could be combined by individual entrepreneurs to come up with specific products with unique characteristics.

Churi is mostly collected from community forests in the mountain districts with mid-west region having the dominant share. The main season for collection is July which coincides with the busy rice transplantation season. On an average, a household collects about 50 kg of seed in the season which is sold at Rs 20 per kg.

Churi and Allo can help alleviate poverty in the rural areas of the country as they are hilly products and have huge potential in the international market.