Value chain and economic analysis of honey production in Nkwanta North and South Districts of the Volta Region

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Date
NOVEMBER, 2015
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Abstract
This research analyzed the honey value chain in Nkwanta North and South districts of the Volta region of Ghana with focus on the return on investment (ROI) and major constraints in the beekeeping business. A total of 20 beekeeping communities were purposively selected and 200 beekeepers chosen by systematic sampling method. Snowball sampling method was used to select 50 brokers, 40 wholesalers and 60 retailers totaling 350 respondents. SPSS and Excel were used to analyze the data. The results showed that about 70.6% of the respondents were males. The average age was 40.7years with household size of 5.64 and about 61.1% had formal education. Respondents who were trained in beekeeping business represented 60% with 1-5years experience in beekeeping and 64.3% were members of beekeeping associations. The major actors in the honey value chain were producers, processors, brokers, wholesalers and retailers. Four honey distribution channels were identified but major quantity of honey passed through herbal medicine (38%) and about 54% of the beeswax was used for baiting honeybees. Five marketing channels were identified but about 35% of bee products were mostly sold to wholesalers. The study identified three major types of beehives: clay-pot, KTBH and Langstroth but the common type was KTBH (84.5%). Langstroth hive was more productive with an average annual quantity of 18.70kg per beehive per season. Comparison of yield difference between Langstroth and KTBH was significant at 1% level which means the type of beehive used by beekeepers contributed to the honey yield difference. Economic analysis of beehive types showed that it was more profitable producing with Langstroth hive than KTBH with TR of GH₵122.59, NP of GH₵96.09 and about 362% ROI per hive per season which was also significant at 1% level. Also, producers whose raw material was comb honey obtained higher ROI of 128% compared to processors (53%), wholesalers (23%) and retailers (26%) which was significant at 1% level. The honey value chain was governed by non-codified type of information (62%) where buyers only communicated the requirement to suppliers but did not share the cost of upgrading producers’ skills to meet the requirements. The most encountered constraints during honey production using Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance were lack of finance for expansion followed by lack of technical assistance with 68% agreement at 1% significant level. The most encountered marketing constraints were competition from imported honey followed by lack of proper records on marketing of bee products with 56% agreement at 1% significant level. The study therefore recommends an increase in supply of Multy-chamber Langstroth hives, capacity building in the use of centrifugal extractors for processing to ensure honey production in both major and minor seasons and the buying of honey combs directly at the farm gates to increase actors’ returns on capital investment.  
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A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource sin partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Agricultural Economics,
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