Nigeria’s $3 Billion Honey Deficit: Youth, Government Team Up to Unlock a Sweet Future
Nigeria is facing a honey shortage so large it costs the nation $3 billion every year in imports. But amid this challenge lies a golden opportunity — one that Nigeria’s youth and government are determined to seize.
At Abuja’s World Bee Day celebrations and the 6th Nigerian Youth Beekeepers Summit, a fresh wave of optimism buzzed through the crowd. For the first time, the newly established Federal Ministry of Livestock Development took center stage alongside the Youths for Apiculture Initiative (YFAI) to launch a united call to action: “Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all.”
Nigeria consumes around 400,000 tonnes of honey annually but produces only about 40,000 tonnes locally — less than 10% of demand. This glaring shortfall has made the country heavily reliant on imports, at a huge economic cost.
But as YFAI National President, Kingsley Nwaogu, passionately put it: “This is more than a honey deficit. It’s an opportunity deficit—and we’re here to close it.” He highlighted beekeeping as a powerful, climate-smart enterprise that can empower young Nigerians, women, and displaced communities, while protecting the environment and strengthening food security.
“No bees, no pollination. No pollination, no food. No food, no future,” Nwaogu stressed, urging a shift in mindset among farmers who often view bees as pests rather than essential partners.
Echoing this vision, Honourable Minister of Livestock Development, Mukhtar Maiha, announced a bold national strategy that places youth at the heart of revitalizing apiculture across Nigeria.
He enumerated the Ministry plans to include Establishing modern apiaries nationwide, developing standardized procedures to ensure Nigerian honey meets international quality standards, providing technical and structural support to beekeepers and entrepreneurs and expanding training, mentorship, and financial access for youth and women
“Beekeeping is no longer a hobby. It’s a national development strategy,” Maiha said. “Investing in youth means securing Nigeria’s food future—and unlocking billions in economic value.”
Hundreds of young beekeepers, agripreneurs, experts, and policymakers gathered under the banner of YFAI and the Nigeria Apiculture Platform (NAP) to explore solutions to threats such as habitat loss, climate change, pesticide misuse, and bush burning.
Both leaders emphasized that collaboration across government, civil society, and the private sector is critical to scaling Nigeria’s beekeeping industry into a global powerhouse.
As the event closed, the message resonated loud and clear: beekeeping is about more than just honey—it is a pathway to jobs, food security, health, trade, and national transformation.
“Together,” Nwaogu concluded, “we can build a generation of bee-lievers—young Nigerians using apiculture to build wealth, heal the planet, and ‘bee’ the change.”