Do farmers care about pollinators? A cross-site comparison of farmers’ perceptions, knowledge, and management practices for pollinator-dependent crops

Hevia, Violeta; García‐Llorente, Marina; Martínez-Sastre, Rodrigo; Palomo, Salvador Domínguez; García, Daniel García; Miñarro, Marcos; Pérez‐Marcos, María; Sánchez, J.; González, José A.

doi:10.1080/14735903.2020.1807892

Cited by 30 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…Instead of protection understood as an outcome of subsidized technical enhancement of fields (more pollinatorfriendly agriculture), we suggest focus more on the triangle of knowledgeable humans deciding on plantpollinator networks, on farmer-friendly and farmerdriven pollinator protection. We need to adapt pollinator protection to the conditions of the Anthropocene (Christmann, 2019c(Christmann, , 2020Hevia et al, 2020;Kusnandar et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Uzbekistan nearly eradicated illiteracy (0.01% of adults above 15 years) (UNESCO, 2020). Even in HIC, farmers' knowledge on pollinators is partly only moderate (Hanes et al, 2013;Hevia et al, 2020;Park et al, 2018). In HIC, higher education levels can be aligned with more knowledge and awareness on pollinators and even more willingness to protect pollinators (Ahnström et al, 2009;Hevia et al, 2020;Mwebaze et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even in HIC, farmers' knowledge on pollinators is partly only moderate (Hanes et al, 2013;Hevia et al, 2020;Park et al, 2018). In HIC, higher education levels can be aligned with more knowledge and awareness on pollinators and even more willingness to protect pollinators (Ahnström et al, 2009;Hevia et al, 2020;Mwebaze et al, 2018). In LIC and MIC, farmers' knowledge about pollinators differs a lot from country to country and from region to region within countries, farmers are often not able to recognize wild pollinators as pollinators or leastwise as beneficial (Ali et al, 2020;Elisante et al, 2019;Frimpong-Anin et al, 2013;Hall & Martins, 2020;Kasina et al, 2009;Munyuli, 2011;Rawluk & Saunders, 2019;Smith et al, 2017;Tarakini et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Two enabling factors for farmer-driven pollinator protection in low- and middle-income countries

Christmann¹,

Aw‐Hassan²,

Güler

et al. 2021

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability

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Reward-based wildflower strips are the most common approach for pollinator protection in high-income countries. Low-and middle-income countries cannot afford this practice. A promising pilot study in Uzbekistan introduced an alternative approach, Farming with Alternative Pollinators, focusing on farmers as target group, marketable habitat enhancement plants and a method-inherent incentive: higher income per surface achieved already in the first year. We hypothesized that higher income would be a replicable enabling factor across continents, but a knowledge-raising campaign would be necessary in many low-and middle-income countries. We assessed the replicability of the incentive with a small number of farmers in 2015-2016 in Morocco but focused on assessing if farmers have sufficient knowledge to recognize wild pollinators and use this approach. We conducted 766 interviews using a standardized questionnaire with randomly selected smallholder farmers in three culturally different farming societies of lowand middle-income countries (Morocco, Turkey and Benin). Farming with Alternative Pollinators induced higher income (75% (2015), 177% (2016)) also in Morocco. The trial and the survey show the indispensability of a knowledge-raising campaign as the second enabling factor. However, based on capacity building, Farming with Alternative Pollinators could have indeed high potential to promote pollinator protection in low-and middle-income countries.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Two enabling factors for farmer-driven pollinator protection in low- and middle-income countries

Christmann¹,

Aw‐Hassan²,

Güler

et al. 2021

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability

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“…Nine publications from all world regions are dedicated more generally to farming management regarding insects. Regarding farmers' knowledge and perception of and attitudes towards beneficial insects, studies about natural pest control by parasitoids (Salliou and Barnaud 2017;Bardenhagen et al 2020;Martínez-Sastre et al 2020) and pollinators (Tarakini et al 2020;Hevia et al 2020) predominate. Whereas studies about pollination services also consider flowering crops other than fruit-bearing plants, studies on natural pest management refer only to orcharding but not to arable land use or mixed farming.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is also a need for more holistic studies which are open for farmers' perceptions of diverse ES, disservices (EDS), and ecological functions of insects. Until now, the awareness and understanding of the insect biodiversity loss has been only addressed in the recent study by Hevia et al 2020. Undoubtedly, this issue needs more attention in the scientific literature because farmers' problem awareness is an important precondition for transformative actions toward more insect-friendly farming practices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How farmers think about insects: perceptions of biodiversity, biodiversity loss and attitudes towards insect-friendly farming practices

et al. 2021

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An alarming decrease of insects in number and variety calls for measures of protection and promotion, since insects are crucial for the functioning of ecosystems and provide multiple ecosystem services. Agricultural landscapes can provide vast insect habitats if they are managed accordingly. However, little is known about farmers’ problem awareness and attitudes toward insect biodiversity loss, related farming practises, or alternative acceptable insect-friendly solutions. To fill these research gaps, this paper aimed to reveal farmers’ perceptions and attitudes regarding these aspects in two German case studies. We conducted 23 semi-structured interviews with farmers in 2019 and qualitatively analysed them using semantic web analysis. Farmers mostly reported awareness of insects’ ecosystem services and disservices related to agricultural production rather than mentioning the holistic ecological importance of insects. About half of the farmers confirmed insect loss based on their own observations, whereas a similar number doubted there had been a decrease of insects. Most farmers are open-minded towards insect-friendly measures if financially compensated. The farmers also mentioned a joint societal responsibility for insects, economic pressure on farmers to use pesticides due to global market prices, and unbalanced agricultural policies. This study revealed in-depth insights into farmers’ thinking about insects and how farmers contextualise arguments. Our results identified overlaps in farmers’ mental models, which paves the way for co-designing insect-friendly farming practices in landscape labs. Local transformation efforts can also demonstrate new pathways for a shift on the higher levels.

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Pollination crisis Down‐Under: Has Australasia dodged the bullet?

Pyke,

Prendergast,

Ren

2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Since mid‐1990s, concerns have increased about a human‐induced “pollination crisis.” Threats have been identified to animals that act as plant pollinators, plants pollinated by these animals, and consequently human well‐being. Threatening processes include loss of natural habitat, climate change, pesticide use, pathogen spread, and introduced species. However, concern has mostly been during last 10–15 years and from Europe and North America, with Australasia, known as Down‐Under, receiving little attention. So perhaps Australasia has “dodged the bullet”? We systematically reviewed the published literature relating to the “pollination crisis” via Web of Science, focusing on issues amenable to this approach. Across these issues, we found a steep increase in publications over the last few decades and a major geographic bias towards Europe and North America, with relatively little attention in Australasia. While publications from Australasia are underrepresented, factors responsible elsewhere for causing the “pollination crisis” commonly occur in Australasia, so this lack of coverage probably reflects a lack of awareness rather than the absence of a problem. In other words, Australasia has not “dodged the bullet” and should take immediate action to address and mitigate its own “pollination crisis.” Sensible steps would include increased taxonomic work on suspected plant pollinators, protection for pollinator populations threatened with extinction, establishing long‐term monitoring of plant–pollinator relationships, incorporating pollination into sustainable agriculture, restricting the use of various pesticides, adopting an Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management approach, and developing partnerships with First Nations peoples for research, conservation and management of plants and their pollinators. Appropriate Government policy, funding and regulation could help.

show abstract

Do farmers care about pollinators? A cross-site comparison of farmers’ perceptions, knowledge, and management practices for pollinator-dependent crops

Cited by 30 publications

References 50 publications

Two enabling factors for farmer-driven pollinator protection in low- and middle-income countries

Two enabling factors for farmer-driven pollinator protection in low- and middle-income countries

How farmers think about insects: perceptions of biodiversity, biodiversity loss and attitudes towards insect-friendly farming practices

Pollination crisis Down‐Under: Has Australasia dodged the bullet?

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