The Women’s Association of Growers (S.W.A.G.) embarked on a three-day World Bee Day awareness campaign to promote women beekeepers in the country while extolling the joys and value of beekeeping to farmers and growers.

The three-day campaign includes awareness on the planting of native species that are bee-friendly, discouraging the use of pesticides and herbicides that can be deadly to bees and other pollinators, encouraging more communities and farmers to keep bees and help protect bees from harm.

Samoa Observer spoke with Papali'i Mele Maualaivao, Country Programme Coordinator for UN Women in Samoa and member of S.W.A.G., who said keeping bees was another way for women to become economically empowered.

“We have so few beekeepers in Samoa that have the knowledge and experience to support the industry. It is a safe and sustainable way to help women earn income, as well as teaching to promote their own agriculturally based business efforts,” said Papali’i.

“Samoa is one of the few places in the world that does not have many of the diseases that affect honey industries around the world, and it is a perfect way for women's groups and committees to produce products that can be locally consumed as well as exported overseas.”

She explained that there are many byproducts that can be produced from bees, such as using their wax in beauty products and environmentally friendly products and healthcare products.

Papali'i believes it’s a wonderful way for women to expand their contribution to the economy.

“Bees are crucial to supporting agricultural practice, to pollinating native and introduced species, and to keeping our biodiversity thriving.

“We all need to protect the bees that live in Samoa as they provide us not only with healthy alternatives to manmade sugars, but can support local economies with the income that can be produced.”

In terms of agricultural importance, Papali'i advised that pollination is the highest agricultural contributor to yields worldwide, contributing far beyond any other agricultural management practice.

She added that pollinators affect 35 per cent of global agricultural land, supporting the production of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide. Plus, pollination-dependent crops are five times more valuable than those that do not need pollination.

Looking at the value chain, the price tag of global crops directly relying on pollinators is estimated to be between US$235 and US$577 billion a year, said Papali'i. And their quantity is on the rise.

The volume of agricultural production dependent on pollinators has increased by 300 per cent in the last 50 years. These figures reflect the importance that pollinators have in sustaining livelihoods across the planet, according to Papali'i.  

At village level in Samoa, several of the crops produced with pollination, such as cocoa and coffee, provide income for farmers, in particular smallholder farmers and family farms, especially in developing countries.