Valuing Insect Pollination Services to Safeguard Crop Pollination in South Africa

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Agricultural Economics
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Global pollinator decline threatens crop value chains and economies reliant on fruit exports.
• South Africa faces a pollination supply deficit despite rich biodiversity and a managed honey bee industry.
• Accurate valuation of pollinator services is vital for management, investment, and balancing pollination supply and demand.

Purpose of the Study:

• To calculate the aggregate economic value of insect crop pollination services in South Africa for the first time.
• To assess the contribution of insect pollination to the national production value of dependent crops.
• To inform management and investment decisions regarding pollination ecosystem services.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data for 36 insect-dependent crops.
• Employed the production function approach to estimate the economic value of insect pollination.
• Calculated the aggregate value based on 2018 crop production data.

Main Results:

• Insect pollination services in South Africa were valued at over USD 1500 million in 2018.
• This value represented 42.2% of the total annual production value for insect-pollination-dependent crops.
• A significant economic contribution of insect pollination to the agricultural sector was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• The study provides the first aggregate economic valuation of insect pollination services in South Africa.
• Limitations exist in using this valuation to guide investment in pollination services.
• Enhanced collection of crop pollination statistics is recommended for accurate ecosystem service assessment and informed decision-making.