Sustainable delivery of pollination services to strengthen rural livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa

我们三分之二的主要食用植物依赖传粉媒介，野生和管理的蜜蜂和无刺蜜蜂生产的蜂蜜和蜂蜡是全世界食物和收入的重要来源。然而，多种相互作用的威胁目前正在导致世界各地野生和管理蜜蜂的数量下降，这表明传粉媒介提供的授粉和食物服务可能受到威胁。事实上，最近的证据表明，依赖传粉媒介的作物面积的扩大超过了传粉媒介的可用性。虽然在发达地区，我们可以多样化或改变饮食和耕作模式，但撒哈拉以南非洲的许多小农却没有这个选择。然而，基于对南非洲传粉媒介减少的驱动因素、压力和影响的科学认识，通过管理和政策措施可以改善他们的收入和生计。我们的建议旨在确定目前阻碍SSA农村可持续作物授粉和蜜蜂产品支持的生计的知识和能力差距以及技术挑战。为了实现这一目标，我们将回顾作物授粉依赖传粉媒介和蜂蜜生产依赖生态系统的证据，以明确将气候和土地利用与授粉服务联系起来的科学挑战，以及将传粉媒介衍生产品与SSA市场和生计改善联系起来的科学挑战。这些信息将构成一项全面的ESPA提案的基础，该提案旨在开发和测试科学工具，以改善依赖传粉媒介的服务的提供，并评估和实施在农村生计和贸易中可持续利用传粉媒介衍生产品的管理和政策选择。我们将制定和评估5个关键领域：1)改善农业生态系统和传粉媒介的管理以提供服务2)评估传粉媒介服务对现金/自给农民/养蜂人生计的作用3)提高传粉媒介带来的扶贫效益4)预测和适应气候和土地利用变化对传粉媒介依赖型农业的影响5)政策选择和能力建设为实现这一目标，我们将：A-审查SSA作物对传粉媒介的依赖性[关键区域1]B-审查影响SSA地区传粉媒介种群生计效益的社会生态因素[关键区域1]C-在内罗毕ICIPE举办研讨会“实现可持续的传粉媒介依赖服务”[1+2]；确定关键差距、方法和成功的管理干预措施，以改善授粉媒介和授粉服务及其在撒哈拉以南非洲农村生计中的作用。D-在利兹举办题为“传粉媒介/传粉衍生产品的驱动因素、压力和影响”的研讨会，探讨现有和新的方法，以解决影响生计的依赖传粉媒介的农业中存在的问题和机遇。E-绘制SSA对科学和政策培训和能力建设的需求[1-5]，重点关注两个密切相关的生态系统服务，使我们能够在大空间尺度上实现ESPA对这些服务的所有4个目标（SSA，预计将有8-12个国家的与会者参加ICIPE研讨会）。我们将能够(i)就依赖传粉媒介的服务、它们的管理、人类利用和可持续减贫途径建立强有力的证据基础；（ii）建立一个创新的跨学科社会生态学研究框架，以调查和预测植物传粉者系统对多种驱动因素的当前和未来反应；（iii）利用我们的联盟网络（例如ICIPE、BfD、Apimondia、FAO）作为与政策制定者、从业者和决策者接触和沟通的起点；调查培训和能力建设需求，这将改善南北和南南研究伙伴关系以及南方研究人员的研究能力。

Two-thirds of our major food plants depend on pollinators, and honey and beeswax produced by wild and managed honey bees and stingless bees is an important source of food and income worldwide. However, multiple interacting threats are currently causing declines in wild and managed bees around the world, suggesting that the pollination and food services provided by pollinators might be under threat. Indeed recent evidence suggests that the expansion in area of pollinator-dependent crops is outstripping the availability of pollinators. While in developed areas, we can diversify or change diets and farming patterns, many small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) do not have this option. However, their incomes and livelihoods could be improved with management and policy measures based on sound scientific understanding of the drivers, pressures and impacts of pollinator declines in SSA. Our proposal aims to identify the knowledge and capacity gaps and technological challenges currently hampering sustainable delivery of crop pollination and livelihoods supported by bee products in rural SSA. To achieve this, we will review the evidence for pollinator-dependence in crop pollination and ecosystem-dependence of honey production to clearly frame the scientific challenges in linking climate and land use to pollination services and those in linking pollinator-derived products to markets and livelihood improvement in SSA. This information will form the basis for a full ESPA proposal aimed at developing and testing scientific tools to improve delivery of pollinator-dependent services and to evaluate and implement management and policy options for sustainable use of pollinator-derived products in rural livelihoods and trade. We will develop and evaluate 5 key areas: 1) Improving management of agro-ecosystems and pollinators for service provision 2) Assessing the role of pollinator services for cash/subsistence farmer/beekeeper livelihoods 3) Enhancing the pro-poor benefits derived from pollinators 4) Prediction of, and adaptation to, climate and land use change impacts on pollinator-dependent agriculture 5) Policy options and capacity building To achieve this we will: A- Review pollinator dependency of SSA crops [key area 1] B- Review socio-ecological factors affecting livelihood benefits derived from pollinator populations in SSA [1] C- Hold a workshop at ICIPE, Nairobi 'Towards sustainable pollinator-dependent services' [1+2]; to identify the key gaps, approaches, and successful management interventions to improve pollinator and pollination services and their role in rural livelihoods in SSA. D- Hold a workshop in Leeds 'Drivers, pressures and impacts of pollinator/pollination-derived products' to explore existing and new methods to address problems and opportunities in pollinator-dependent agriculture affecting livelihoods [2], products and marketing [3] and needed to mitigate impacts to land use and climate change [4] and linkage to policy makers [5] E- Map the need for scientific and policy training and capacity building in SSA [1-5] Focussing on two closely-linked ecosystem services allows us to meet all 4 ESPA objectives for these services and at a large spatial scale (SSA, participants of 8-12 countries expected at the ICIPE workshop). We will be able to (i) create a strong evidence-base on pollinator-dependent services, their management, human use and pathways to sustainable poverty reduction; (ii) develop an innovative, interdisciplinary socio-ecological research framework to investigate current and predict future responses of plant-pollinator systems to multiple drivers; (iii) use our consortium networks (e.g. ICIPE, BfD, Apimondia, FAO) as a starting point for engagement and communication with policy makers, practitioners and decision makers; (iv) survey training and capacity building needs which will improve north-south and south-south research partnerships and southern researchers' research capacity.