Pollination loss removes healthy foods from global diets, increases chronic diseases causing excess deaths

According to research led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School, inadequate pollination has led to a 3-5% loss of fruit, vegetable, and nut production and an estimated 427,000 excess deaths annually from lost healthy food consumption. The study is the first to quantify the human health toll of insufficient wild animals.

A lack of direct links to human health has been a missing piece in the discussion of the topic of biodiversity. The research shows that the loss of pollinators is impacting health on a scale with other global health risk factors.

The study will be published in December.

The topic of the COP 15 UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal is increasing human pressure on natural systems. Some warn of an insect apocalypse in the coming decades due to 1-2% annual declines of insect populations. In order to grow healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts, pollination is important. Wild pollinators are threatened by changes in land-use, use of harmful pesticides, and climate change

The researchers used a model framework, which included empirical evidence from a network of hundreds of experimental farms across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, to show how much crop loss was caused by insufficient pollination. The global risk-disease model was used to estimate the health impacts of the changes in pollination. The loss of economic value from lost pollination was calculated.

Middle- and higher-income countries have higher rates of non-communicable diseases than lower-income countries. Most of the health effects from global environmental change are centered on the poor in countries like South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. China, India, Indonesia, and Russia were the countries that suffered the most.

Lower-income countries lost a lot of agricultural income due to insufficient pollination and lower yields.

They reflect the complex dynamics of factors behind food systems and human populations around the world. "Only with this type of modeling can we get a better fix on the magnitude and impact of the problem," said co-author Timothy Sulser.

Strategies to protect wild pollinators are more than just an environmental issue. Matthew Smith is a research scientist at the Department of Environmental Health.

There is more information on Pollinator deficits, food consumption, and consequences for human health. 10289/EHP10947 is a book.

Journal information: Environmental Health Perspectives