African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Institute for Plant Biotechnology, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 16;13(1):20108. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-46936-w.
Insect pollinators provide a natural ecosystem service to more than 80% of known flowering plants, many of which are part of our diet. However, their importance in Africa and an agriculture-dependent country like Rwanda has yet to receive attention. This encumbers policy formulation and investments in insect pollinators as a strategic agronomic input. Meanwhile, Rwanda cultivates crops that can benefit significantly from insect pollinators for superior agronomic outputs. To uncover this, we characterized the dependence of the crop production subsector on insect pollinators. Using the bioeconomic approach, we assessed the total economic value and the value due to insect pollinators of crops cultivated in Rwanda. We also evaluated the crop's production value per ton and whether production would meet consumption demands in the complete absence of insect pollinators. Using 71 representative crops currently grown in Rwanda, we found a direct dependency of 62% on insect pollinators. Of 32 representative crops used for economic valuation in two years (2014 and 2020), their total monetary value is estimated at $2.551 billion to $2.788 billion. Direct insect pollinator-dependent crops accounted for 20% (2014) to 18% (2020) of this value, with the share attributed to insect pollinators above $100 million. The sector's vulnerability to insect pollinators decreased from 7.3% in 2014 to 4.3% in 2020. The mean production value per ton of the direct insect pollinator-dependent crops was found to be higher in 2014 before declining in 2020. Using 21 representative crops from 2014 to 2020, we found that many direct insect pollinator-dependent crops will struggle to meet consumption demands in the complete absence of all suitable insect pollinators. Finally, we propose interventions and future research that could be undertaken. These insights are a critical first step to propel the government to act on insect pollination to support its food security agenda.
传粉昆虫为超过 80%的已知开花植物提供了一种自然生态系统服务，其中许多植物是我们饮食的一部分。然而，它们在非洲和像卢旺达这样依赖农业的国家的重要性尚未得到关注。这阻碍了作为战略农业投入的传粉昆虫的政策制定和投资。与此同时，卢旺达种植的作物从传粉昆虫中获益良多，可获得卓越的农业产量。为了揭示这一点，我们研究了作物生产部门对传粉昆虫的依赖程度。我们采用生物经济方法评估了卢旺达种植的作物的总经济价值和传粉昆虫的价值。我们还评估了每单位产量的作物产值，以及在完全没有传粉昆虫的情况下，生产是否能够满足消费需求。我们使用卢旺达目前种植的 71 种代表性作物，发现其中 62%直接依赖传粉昆虫。在两年（2014 年和 2020 年）用于经济价值评估的 32 种代表性作物中，其总货币价值估计为 25.51 亿美元至 27.888 亿美元。直接依赖传粉昆虫的作物占该价值的 20%（2014 年）至 18%（2020 年），传粉昆虫的价值超过 1 亿美元。该部门对传粉昆虫的脆弱性从 2014 年的 7.3%下降到 2020 年的 4.3%。发现直接依赖传粉昆虫的作物的每单位产量的平均产值在 2014 年较高，然后在 2020 年下降。我们使用 2014 年至 2020 年的 21 种代表性作物发现，许多直接依赖传粉昆虫的作物在完全没有合适的传粉昆虫的情况下将难以满足消费需求。最后，我们提出了可以采取的干预措施和未来研究。这些见解是推动政府采取行动促进传粉以支持其粮食安全议程的关键第一步。
