Global apiculture and food experts have called on governments worldwide to cherish and protect bees and other pollinators already impacted by climate change and now the effects of Covid-19 pandemic.

Bees safeguard the environments and support the livelihoods of rural and indigenous peoples who are particularly critical in these extraordinary times like the current Covid-19 pandemic, noted experts attending a virtual World Bee Day 2020 recently.

“Beekeeping delivers significant social, economic and environmental benefits. It can be carried out with locally available materials and limited resources,” observed Food and Agriculture Organization director general QU Dongyu, one of the panelists of the meeting.

According to Dr QU, beekeeping could provide a safety net particularly to the landless, women, youth and the disabled enabling them to produce their own food and enhancing resilience.

In Kenya, beekeeping is a major economic earner in Baringo and Kitui counties.

With its little resource requirement and space, beekeeping is a viable enterprise in arid and semi-arid regions across the country.

Climate change, deforestation, use of commercial pesticides and urbanisation have been a threat to bees in recent years leading to declining numbers.