As we celebrate the first World Bee Day today, it’s a good time to consider the sweet connection 🙂 between honey bees and food security.
Bees are the most important group of pollinators for many of the micro-nutrient rich fruits, nuts, vegetables, legumes and seed crops consumed around the world. Pollination occurs following the transfer of pollen between flowering plants. Bees feed on nectar from the stigma (female parts) and pollen from the anther (male parts) of flowering plants. As the bees fly from flower to flower, they transfer pollen from one blossom to another of the same floral species, which results in pollination.
Factors such as air pollution, increased pesticide use, fast-spreading fungal parasites including varroa mite and loss of habitat for wildflowers especially in intensively farmed areas contribute to decline of bees.
The decline in the numbers of bees could contribute to food insecurity, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations estimates that 71 percent of the 100 crop species that provide 90 percent of the world’s food are bee-pollinated.
We can safeguard bees by:
- Maintaining or creating bee habitats.
- Supporting and learning from traditional practices that preserve bee habitats.
- Practicing crop rotation.
- Decreasing exposure of bees to pesticides by reducing pesticide use and employing alternative forms of pest control.
- Proactively promoting stakeholder dialogues -including farmers, scientists and policy makers- to make informed policy choices that protect bee ecosystems.
- Circulating knowledge about the importance of bees amongst farmers, farming communities and the general public.
In Nigeria, Dr. Bidemi Ojeleye, the founder and director of the Centre for Bee Research & Development is committed to circulating knowledge about bees. See Flora IP’s interview with Dr. Ojeleye here.
To learn more about the golden insects, see:
FAO’s Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture
