Gibson Mhaka, Senior Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE will tomorrow mark the  first-ever belated World Bee Day which was declared by the United Nations to recognise and celebrate the importance of preserving bees and other pollinators.

The celebrations organised by Matabeleland Beekeepers Association ( MBA) are being held in Bulawayo.

World Bee Day was set aside by the UN, yearly on May 20, to recognise the importance of bees and for wider society to take concrete action to preserve and protect them.

The day also presents an opportunity to recognise the role of beekeeping, bees and other pollinators in increasing food security, improving nutrition and fighting hunger as well as in providing key ecosystem services for agriculture.

Speaking to Business Chronicle, one of the organisers of the event who is also secretary of the MBA, Mr Welcome Bhila said the day was important not only to beekeepers but to Zimbabwe as whole.

He said the day presents a platform to raise awareness on the importance of bees for humanity and sensitised them to take concrete action to preserve and protect them.

Mr Bhila said bees were also an important source of jobs and income for farmers, particularly for smallholder and family farms in developing countries.

“Bees play a crucial role in increasing crop yields and promoting food security and nutrition. World Bee Day is important as it recognises the importance of these tiny helpers and will increase awareness of the need to protect them.

“The celebrations are also important as they come at a time when global bee populations are under attack from multiple fronts such as intensive agriculture, pesticides, pollution, climate change, and disease which have all resulted in declining numbers of bees and other pollinators, most notably in the northern hemisphere.

“The extinction of bees would not only deprive the world of a species, but could also have severe consequences for entire ecosystems and humankind. A third of all food depends on pollination; meaning bees are critical to ensuring the global food supply chain,” he said.

Mr Bhila said protection of bees would also contribute to efforts to halt further loss of  biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems, as   well as to the objectives of sustainable development defined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Globally, it is estimated between $235 billion and $577 billion worth of annual global food production relies on direct contributions by pollinators.