Caring for Pollinators - Bundesamt für Naturschutz

Gikungu, Hagen, Kraemer An overview of pollinator studies in Kenya
• Assessing the economic value of pollination and the economic impact of the decline
of pollination services
• Promoting the conservation and the restoration and sustainable use of pollinator
diversity in agriculture and related ecosystems
Number of studies
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Fig. 1: Current trends in pollination studies in
Kenya
Diversity of pollinator studies in Kenya
Number of studies
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Crop Comm Indiv. Breeding Econom.
unity plant
Fig. 2: Types of pollinator studies in Kenya
Most pollination ecology studies in Kenya have been on crop pollination (e.g. Onim et al
1979, Khaemba 1985, Njoroge 2004) followed by community studies (Gikungu 2002, 2006,
Gikungu & Njoroge 2007)(Fig 2). Crop pollination studies have been mainly on important
cash crops such as coffee, fruits and vegetables. There is need to conduct more community
studies especially in natural and proteced areas in Kenya, where a lot has been documented
on big mammals but virtually nothing on pollinator diversity and their interactions with plants.
However, the existing pollinator studies in Kenya have not been equally distributed and they
are skewed towards western Kenya (Fig 3). In the recent past two major projects that is,
BIOTA East (Biodiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa) and RPSUD (Research
Programme in Sustainable management and Utilization of Dry land biodiversity) have
contributed greatly to pollinator studies in Kenya.
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