Abstract:
Honey is an important cash crop for its contribution to income generating, employment
opportunity and improvement of food security to majority of the rural households.
However, enhancing honey producers to reach market and actively engage in the honey
value chain is a key issue in the study area. Both quantitative and qualitative data were
used collect those primary and secondary source of data. Quantitative data were collected
through personal interviews form a total of 123 respondents using structured and semistructured
questionnaires. More over qualitative data were also collected through focus
group discussions, key informants interviews and observations. STATA and SPSS
Software package was used to analyze the collected data. This study was under taken to
map honey value chain actors and identifying their roles and linkage; identify honey
production and marketing constraints and opportunities, analyzing marketing structure,
conduct and performance use distributive analysis and analyzing determinants of honey
market supply by econometric analysis in Gozamen Woreda of East Gojjam, Amhara
Region .The study was based on the survey of 123 farmers, and 30 traders. The value
chain analysis revealed that the major honey value chain actors were input suppliers,
small holder farmers, local collectors, district retailers, wholesalers, processor) and
consumers whereas input supply, production, marketing and consumption are the major
value chain functions. In the study area, Woreda office of agriculture, cooperatives,
Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI) and None Governmental Organization (like
AGPs) are honey value chain supporters. The econometric result indicated that family size,
market distance, use of purchasing equipment, sex of the household, frequency of
harvesting, market information, and land size activities are factors significantly
determining the volume of honey supplied to market by smallholder farmers. Producers
took the highest marketing profit in (producers-consumers) channel the result of the study
confirms that 99.45 birr/kg. This paper has policy implication, so the study result indicated
the need to encourage entry of more traders to the business, to device mechanism to
increase producers’ margin, facilitate conditions to deliver modern beehives at affordable
prices, provide credit including training for harvesting, and strengthening extension
service for honey producers
