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Africa honey production has highest global growth rate: FAO
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Thursday, 22 May, 2025, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Jimma, Ethiopia
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The director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Qu Dongyu called for increased international collaboration to protect bees and other pollinators and use them sustainably, as World Bee Day 2025 was celebrated at a special event hosted by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
This year's theme for World Bee Day, ‘Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all’, highlights the critical roles that more than 20,000 bee species and other pollinators, such as butterflies, birds, and bats, play in agrifood systems and the health of our planet's ecosystems.
“We are celebrating bees and other pollinators – small creatures that are essential to our foods, our health, our environment, and our economy,” said Dongyu, via video message at the global event in Jimma. “Pollinators have enormous economic value and are silent heroes. Without them, we would lose up to eight percent of global crop production, worth around USD 577 billion, each year. These figures are not just numbers – they represent the jobs, livelihoods, medicines, and foods needed by people around the world,” he said.
Nearly 90 percent of the world's flowering plants depend on pollinators, as do 75 percent of the world's most important crops that provide fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds for human consumption.
The director-general also highlighted the problems that pollinators face, including habitat loss, inappropriate use of harmful chemicals, the impacts of climate change, invasive alien species and parasites, and stressed the critical importance of international collaboration to overcome these challenges. “We all have a role to play in protecting pollinators, such as through better agricultural practices, community engagement, supporting beekeepers, and by developing enabling policies that help pollinators, beekeepers, and farmers,” said Dongyu.
Globally, honey production reached 1 894 thousand tonnes in 2023, with Africa having the highest growth rate. The continent now accounts for 12 percent of global production, producing 223 000 tonnes annually. Ethiopia is the biggest honey producing country in Africa and tenth in the world. Other important producers of honey in Africa are Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
Holding FAO’s global celebration in Ethiopia recognises the country’s importance as a honey producer.
Girma Amente, Minister of Agriculture of Ethiopia, said, "We are pleased to celebrate this event, a vital platform for Ethiopia to identify challenges and draft solutions for our agricultural sector. I call upon all stakeholders to safeguard pollinators and promote sustainable beekeeping, essential for our sustainable development. I also want to recognise the unreserved support of FAO in these efforts."
Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO assistant director-general and Regional Representative for Africa, said there is enormous potential in African honey production. He said, “African honeybees have shown remarkable resilience against parasites and pathogens that cause significant losses elsewhere. African beeswax often appears to have low pesticide contamination, which positions African beekeeping uniquely to benefit from organic and fair-trade niche markets.”
World Bee Day was established in 2017, by a United Nations resolution following a proposal made by the Government of Slovenia. In a video message, Mateja Calusic, Slovenia’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, reflected on the meaning of this year’s celebration taking place in a continent where for centuries beekeeping has been an integral part of life and in a country with a ‘remarkable’ beekeeping tradition. She also noted the lessons that bees have to offer us. She said, “At a time when the world is shaken by war, climate change and food crises, bees teach us precious lessons. They work in silence yet with perfect coordination. They are small yet their impact is enormous. Their organisation is proof that the common good is stronger than individual interests.”
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