AGRICULTURAL NEWS - According to Paul Makube, senior agricultural economist at FNB, the adverse weather conditions in South Africa, particularly the Western Cape, was largely to blame for the current decrease in production.
“Drought was a principal factor in the current shortage,” he said. “In previous years, wholesale prices ranged from R40/kg to R45/kg, but prices recently reached R65/kg, due to the drought.”
Moreover, the Cape honeybee population suffered a severe setback earlier this year when devastating wildfires in the Garden Route region destroyed more than 1 000 hives, as well as a significant portion of the bees’ forage.
Makube explained that limited domestic supply was a result of growing demand for the product, and insufficient production to meet this demand.
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