THE World Bee Day, observed globally on May 20 since its declaration by the United Nations in 2018, serves as a reminder of bees’ indispensable role in sustaining our ecosystems. This year’s theme — ‘Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all’ — carries a message that is as aspirational as it is urgent. Bees and other pollinators make our environment habitable by enabling food production. Over 75 per cent of the world’s food crops depend on pollination, including fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. The existence of more than 20,000 species of bees helps ensure not only higher crop yields but also more nutritious and diverse diets.
But this vital ecological service is under grave threat. Driven by human activity, species extinction today is occurring at a rate between 100 to 1,000 times higher than normal. If pollinator populations continue to decline, we risk reverting to a food system reliant on a narrow set of staple crops, lacking both nutritional value and resilience. In the process, entire communities — particularly in the Global South — stand to lose their food sovereignty, livelihoods and environmental security.
Among the most pressing threats to bees is the rampant and largely unregulated use of pesticides in agriculture. The pursuit of short-term productivity has fostered a dependence on highly hazardous pesticides with devastating consequences not only for pollinators but for people and ecosystems at large. Each year, an estimated 385 million incidents of pesticide-related poisoning are reported worldwide, with disproportionate effects on smallholder farmers, rural women and children in low-income countries.
Bangladesh has seen the fatal cost of this chemical dependency. In 2012, 13 children died within hours of falling ill after eating litchis from pesticide-sprayed orchards in Dinajpur. An investigation by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research confirmed that toxic pesticides were responsible for their deaths. The tragedy was not an isolated case. More recently, Arju Alam, a beekeeper from Pabna, saw his entire apiary wiped out within days of setting up near a litchi orchard in Biral upazila, Dinajpur. The trees were sprayed with pesticides just three days after his arrival, leaving his bees dead and his livelihood shattered.
Beyond the direct impact on bee populations and human health, pesticides pollute soil, rivers and groundwater. These toxins leach into the food chain, causing long-term physiological effects such as hormonal imbalances and cancer. Aquatic biodiversity is also compromised, as pesticide runoff contaminates the habitats of countless species. Yet, despite these well-documented harms, pesticide usage in Bangladesh has risen tenfold over the past fifty years — from 4,000 tonnes in 1972 to 40,000 tonnes in 2022. In parallel, the number of pesticide importers has exploded, growing by 250 per cent since 2000 to more than 700 companies today.
The regulatory apparatus meant to monitor this expansion is worryingly inadequate. Pesticides that are banned in the European Union and other developed nations continue to find their way into Bangladeshi markets. This practice — where corporations export banned products to countries with looser oversight — amounts to a stark double standard. A survey by Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific found 11 pesticides, banned under EU regulations, still being sold in Bangladesh. Research by Shikkha Shastha Unnayan Karzakram confirmed that these chemicals are readily available both online and in physical markets. The newer formulations tend to dominate digital platforms, while older and equally dangerous variants are quietly circulated in rural districts.
Multinational corporations bear significant responsibility for this regulatory failure. With their deep pockets and strategic alliances, they wield disproportionate influence over agricultural policy-making in countries like Bangladesh. In doing so, they facilitate the continued use of toxic agrochemicals, jeopardising not only farmers’ health and livelihoods but the broader ecological systems on which life depends. The profits of a few are being bought at the cost of planetary sustainability.
The international community has made commitments to change this course. The UN Environment Assembly has set a target to phase out highly hazardous pesticides by 2035. Realising this goal will require that governments hold corporations accountable for the environmental and social damage they cause. It will also demand a shift in political will — one that places ecological safety and public health above industrial profit.
Fortunately, there are global frameworks already in place to guide sustainable transformation. The Convention on Biological Diversity recognises pollinators as a priority for biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture. The International Pollinator Initiative, launched at the convention’s fifth Conference of the Parties in 2000, promotes pollinator-friendly agricultural practices and supports countries with the technical know-how to implement them. The Food and Agriculture Organisation provides further assistance, offering solutions such as queen bee breeding, artificial insemination technology and guidance for honey production and export.
These efforts are bolstered by a growing body of sustainable farming practices that centre ecological balance. Agroecology, agroforestry and Integrated Pest Management reduce the need for chemical inputs while supporting crop diversity and soil health. These methods not only preserve pollinator populations but also help create more resilient food systems capable of withstanding environmental shocks and market volatility.
Protecting bees is not solely the responsibility of farmers or governments. The UN has proposed a set of actions that individuals, too, can take: planting native flowering species, avoiding harmful chemical products, buying raw honey from local beekeepers and safeguarding natural habitats. Beekeepers and farmers are encouraged to minimise pesticide use, rotate crops, and cultivate pollinator-friendly plants. Policymakers, meanwhile, must involve indigenous and local communities in environmental decision-making, introduce supportive legislation and promote collaboration among researchers and civil society organisations to monitor pollination services and advance sustainable solutions.
The future of our food, our health and our environment is intimately tied to the survival of bees. The losses of Arju Alam’s apiary or the Dinajpur children are not just tragedies — they are symptoms of a global agricultural system that is both broken and blind to its consequences. On and beyond World Bee Day, it is time to ask difficult questions of those who benefit from this system and to demand change that prioritises life over profit. The bees may be small, but their absence would leave an enormous void.
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Sakiul Millat Morshed is chief advisor at North Bengal Honey Community Enterprise and executive director of Shikkha Shastha Unnayan Karzakram.
