Perception of Farmers on Importance of Insect Pollinators in Gozamin District of Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Pollination and pollinators provide important ecosystem service for human well being. Identifying and managing diversity of pollinators in Ethiopia have significant effect on the conservation and improvement of agricultural yield in terms of quality and quantity on farms. Thus, improvement of yield needs understanding of farmers' perceptions and knowledge on pollination services and the importance of insect pollinators' for agricultural production among other key production and management factors considered. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate and document farmers' perception on the importance of insect pollinators, their current status, distributions and farmers' knowledge of the role of insect pollinators in a farmland habitat of the area. Transect sampling, household surveys of 131 house hold heads, focus group discussion, and direct field observation method was used to collect data. The result showed that most farmers 94 (77%) had no knowledge on pollination and the importance of insect pollinators. In addition more than half 76 (62.3%) revealed that they did not know insect pollinators except honeybee. There is also significant difference in their views. Eighty three (68%) of the respondents could not identify the role of honeybees and other insect pollinators in agricultural seed set with a significant differences. More than half of the respondents 76 (62.3%) were unaware that insect pollinators feed or drink from the plants. Education, knowledge on pollen and/or nectar, and source of information significantly affected knowledge of farmers about pollination and the importance of insect pollinators. However, more than half of the respondents 75 (61.5%) revealed that they have knowledge of the impact of agricultural input (insecticides and herbicides) on insect pollinators' activity. Most farmers 103 (84.4%) thought that insect pollinators population show a declining trend from year to year and 78.7% perceived that the trend was due to spray of herbicides and insecticides, coupled with drought and deforestation. The study revealed that most of the farmers lack knowledge of pollination and the importance of insect pollinator in agriculture production. Therefore, awareness creation on the importance of pollinators and pollination is urgently needed for the farmers to conserve pollinators.

The Contribution of Managed Honey Bees to Crop Pollination, Food Security, and Economic Stability: Case of Ethiopia

“…Abundances and distributions of pollinator species are affecting agricultural yields, and other agroecosystem functions in many ways. About 77% of farmers in the gozamin district of the Amhara region in Ethiopia did not know pollination and the importance of insect pollinator, and they consider crop pests to insect pollinators [60]. The majority of cocoa producing farmers in Ghana (87.6%) did not have the general scientific concept of pollination [61].…”

“…Only a few farmers (23%) know the role honey bees play in pollination service [60], and similar to this the majority of farmers in western Kenya [62] and Uganda [63] were not aware of the importance of pollination for crop production. This indicates the need for training and awareness creation to the farmers on the significance of pollinators to enhance productivity.…”

“…Due to the misapplication of these chemicals, honey bee mortality and reduction of honey bee colonies, which eventually results in a reduction of bee products and crop yield are faced [88,93]. Reports indicate that there was a decline of honey bee colonies in Ethiopia [47,60,91,94] due to pesticide application and deforestation. The impacts of pesticides on honey bee production are likely to be aggravated by the limited knowledge among users on the toxicological and chemical properties of these substances and the fact that labels on pesticide containers were in a language that cannot be understood.…”

“…Skill and knowledge gap on the farmers how and when to use pesticides [89,91,92]. Farmer's awareness of honey bees pollination service to agricultural crop production is low [60]. Developing conservation policy for pollinators; especially, honey bees, and legislation and monitoring for pesticide application [47,89,92].…”

“…Developing conservation policy for pollinators; especially, honey bees, and legislation and monitoring for pesticide application [47,89,92]. Awareness creation on protecting the honey bees from pesticide poisoning and the importance of honey bees on agricultural crop pollination [47,60].…”