BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Agron.
Sec. Agroecological Cropping Systems
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fagro.2025.1646610
This article is part of the Research TopicAgroecology in Action: Case Studies, Challenges and Best PracticesView all 6 articles
Farming with Alternative Pollinators for Increased Biodiversity and Smallholder Incomes in Zimbabwe
Provisionally accepted
Sophie Allebone-Webb1Felix Gossrau1,2
Chloé Orland1*
Gracian Takudzwa Bara3Cédric Fioekou1Annah Matsika1Karl Riber1Bader Mahaman Dioula1- 1Action Against Hunger, Paris, France
- 2Concern Worldwide - Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
- 3University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
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Pollinator populations have dramatically declined over the past 50 years, with over 40% of invertebrate pollinator species at risk of extinction largely due to intensive agriculture, pesticide use, habitat loss and climate change. Pollinators provide an essential ecosystem service, with about 75% of global crops relying on pollination by animals. It is therefore essential to reconsider conventional farming practices, which are largely responsible for this decline. By cultivating flowering crops known as "Marketable Habitat Enhancement Plants", (MHEPs), alongside the edges of pesticide-free fields, the Farming with Alternative Pollinators (FAP) approach aims to enhance the presence of wild pollinators. In this study, we compared the performance of a total of 43 smallholder farmer plots using the FAP approach with plots following conventional approaches, for pollinator abundance and diversity, and for yield and income in Zimbabwe. We found significantly higher pollinator abundance and richness in FAP plots compared to control plots. There was significantly higher income and higher value of yields for all offtake in FAP plots for both crop cycles measured. Plots with higher pollinator abundance showed significantly higher income from all crops and significantly higher value of yields, showing a clear link between pollinator populations, crop production and income.
Keywords: Farming with Alternative Pollinators, agroecology, Taxonomic diversity, Pollinators, ecosystem services, conservation agriculture
Received: 13 Jun 2025; Accepted: 28 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Allebone-Webb, Gossrau, Orland, Bara, Fioekou, Matsika, Riber and Mahaman Dioula. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chloé Orland, Action Against Hunger, Paris, France
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