Production and Profitability of Honey in Yewa North, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the level of production, supply and marketing of honey in Yewa North Local
Government Area of Ogun State. Some hindrance to honey supply and marketing were also identified. To
achieve the aim of this study, fifty (50) questionnaires were distributed to five communities randomly
selected in the study area. Ten questionnaires were administered in each community to collect data from
beekeepers. The socio economic variables analysis revealed that 64% of the apiculturists were males while
36% were females. Up to 62% of the apiculturists were Christians while 36% were Muslims and 2% of them
were neither Christians nor Muslims. Majority of the producers were in the range of 30-40 years. 4% of the
honey producers were singles while 96% were married. NCE holders were 30% while 10% were degree
holders. Fifty two percent of the apiculturists inherited the farmland while 9% purchased land. Top bars
hive were used by 84%, while 6% used langsroth and 10% used other type of hives. Traditional method of
beekeeping was used by 14%, while 86% used modern method of beekeeping. This study shows that 20%
of the apiculturists chose beekeeping as their main occupation while 80% chose apiculture as secondary
occupation. Only the sales of honey were used for the budgetary analysis. The cost analysis shows that the
cost of hive which was 44.5% constitutes a large percentage of the total cost of honey production. The fixed
cost was 91.5% of the total cost while the variable cost was 8.4% of the total cost of honey production in
the study area.The profitability index was 0.6058 which implies that for every N1 sales, 60k was earned
while the rate of return on investment and variable cost are 153.7286 and 1921.3. The gross margin and
the net farm income are 300687.0 and 188567.4. The operating ratio is 0.0332 which means that the total
variable cost is about 3.3% of the total revenue while the benefit cost ratio is 2.5651 which imply that the
risk of running at a loss if invested in the enterprise is very minimal and the probability of making profit is
high.