Like many other residents of Rabai, Kilifi County, Renson Mbaji is a wine-tapper.
The 38-year-old normally climbs coconut trees, harvests the fruits and extract the sap that is mainly used to make wine.
But unlike other tappers, Mbaji does not only make wine from the coconut juice; he turns the white sap into coco honey. “Coco honey is sweet, really sweet. I have been doing this for about a year and it is giving me better returns than selling wine, which everyone is doing.”
Mbaji acquired the value addition skills from Kenya Coconut Development Authority (KCDA) extension officers last year.
“The lessons were informative. Until then, I was only tapping wine. I then embraced making the honey,” he says. Processing the home-made honey takes about three hours. One must use clean utensils that include a sufuria to warm the fresh coconut sap. “I normally heat the sap to temperatures above 100 degrees. Then I stir the content until it turns brown. Then it is left to cool,” he says.
The fresher the sap, the better the honey produced.
“Only fresh coconut sap that has not stayed longer than six hours is used since it has lots of sucrose content. Sap that has stayed longer after harvesting produces low quality honey. This product does not require chemical additives. It is natural and pure,” he says.
Since he started, Mbaji has no regrets. He earns Sh700 from a litre of coconut honey. A 750ml bottle of raw coconut wine goes at Sh70 when it’s scarce, and when the supply is high, at Sh30.
With the honey, however, he sells four litres a week, which earn him over Sh11,000 each month.
Compared to bee honey, Mbaji says coconut honey is lighter and has a long shelf-life.
“If wine is not sold, you either drink it with friends or pour it. This becomes a loss to the tapper who depends on it to support his family,” he says, adding that is not the case with coconut honey.
“However, it is still a new thing. I have not sold many litres but I am struggling to get it certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards. Once this happens and I get capital, I will increase my production,” Mbaji says and adds that more awareness about the product is necessary to create demand.
Loise Safari, a resident of Ngomeni, Kilifi, who has used the honey for about three months, says it is a nice product.
The honey has supplemented Mbaji’s income and he no longer entirely depends on mnazi wine for survival.
KCDA acting managing director Raymond Kahindi says that with the knowledge on making honey, coconut farmers have a chance to add value to coconut sap for diversification. Kahindi says KCDA borrowed the technology from Asia, where it is practised in Malasyia, Thailand and the Philippines.
“We travelled there and got the exposure. A lot of research and development has been done in the area. We are training people to embrace the product,” he says.
Other products that can be produced from coconut sap include vinegar, jam, sauce and nectar.
Kahindi says coconut sugar contains lower sucrose and glycemic properties that are recommended for those suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes.
“The focus is on the smallholder farmers, but we invite large-scale entrepreneurs to invest in the production of coconut honey.”
