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Trust Freddy Herald Correspondent
DECLINING bee populations pose a serious threat to a variety of plants and crops and Zimbabwe should do more to safeguard the species critical to the nation’s food security, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary, Dr John Basera, said recently.
He told a beekeepers’ symposium held at Gwebi College of Agriculture that the depletion of pollinators could spell a disaster for farmers and pose a threat to national food security.
“A wide range of beneficial insects are declining at a rapid pace due to a number of factors – one being climate change,” he said in a speech read on his behalf by Professor Obert Jiri.
“We need to consider best and sound restorative and ecosystem-based agricultural practices that safeguard the role of a variety of pollinators, including the honeybees, which play a critical role in our food production systems.”
Urgent measures were needed to save pollinators which were incredibly important to the agricultural economy and the country’s biodiversity.
Bees and other pollinators are declining in number across Zimbabwe and the entire world largely due to intensive farming practices, mono-cropping, excessive use of agricultural chemicals, and higher temperatures associated with climate change.
Experts say this not only affects crop yields, but also nutrition. If the trend continues, nutritious crops such as fruits, nuts, and many vegetables will be substituted increasingly by staple crops like rice, corn, and potatoes, eventually resulting in an unbalanced diet.
Speaking at the same event, Savarna Delights executive director Mrs Selina Chitapi also expressed concern over the decline of the bee population in the country.
“Negative human behaviour is a major culprit in habitat loss thus leading to the extinction of bees. The demise or depletion of bees in our ecosystem spells a disaster for farmers and their livelihoods,” she said.
The symposium was organised by the Bee Keepers Association Trust.
Online Reporter