Agoa sweetens Zambia’s honey export prospects

There’s a lucrative market for the export of honey to the US – and Zambian exporters are not making the most of it. That’s the view of ‘Transitional Trade’ executive director Jacqueline Musiitwa, quoted on agoa.info. Transitional Trade is an American market linkage organisation that operates in postconflict African countries like Liberia and Rwanda. Musiitwa said the market for honey in the US was abundant, and wondered why Zambian businessmen had not taken advantage of the provisions of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) to export honey to that country. Her organisation has embarked on discussions with the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) with a view to identifying small-scale businessmen who could be linked to the American honey market and other sectors. “We will help SMEs to access capital through partnerships with American firms and focus on linking them to investors that have money to engage African products that could be profitable. Specifically, we are looking at honey production in North Western and Southern provinces. Honey is easy. That is an area that Zambia has not fully tapped into. Opportunities are there. We are talking to ZDA to make sure that the message is heard across the country.” She said her organisation was interested in linking Zambians to financiers in the USA for projects that were beneficial to local communities.