The Pollination of Nepal's Micronutrient-rich Crops in a Changing Climate

Three quarters of crop species depend on pollinators, but the service they provide is under increasing threat from climate change. Declines in
pollinators are predicted to have negative impacts on human health as key dietary micronutrients in insect pollinated crops such as vitamin A and
folate are lost from the diet. This "hidden hunger" is predicted to cause significant global health burdens. Climate change is already affecting
pollinators, for example, the geographic range of bumblebees is shrinking as their southern range moves northwards, the synchrony between
flowering plants and their pollinators is being disrupted and climate change is predicted to decrease bee species richness by 8-18% in some areas.

Pollinator loss disproportionately harms developing countries, as they are both less resilient to yield drops and more reliant on the micronutrients
found in small-scale pollinator-dependent crops. Providing population-wide vitamin supplementation is neither practical nor sustainable in remote
parts of the world; instead, diversifying the diet by increasing access to micronutrient-rich fruits, vegetables and legumes could provide a solution.

Fortunately, pollinator declines can be reversed, at least locally. Moreover, if the effect of climate change on pollinators is understood, habitat
management can be used to mitigate against its effects. There is evidence of climate change, pollinator declines and micronutrient deficiency in our
focal country Nepal and our research vision has four components: 1) to predict the effect of climate change on crop pollinators in Nepal; 2) to
predict the ensuing impact on crop production and micronutrient intake; 3) run a field experiment to test the resilience of insect pollinated crops to
climate change; 4) develop a policy and education package to mitigate the effects of climate change on crop pollination and micronutrient intake.

Working with health professionals in Nepal, our international team of natural scientists and health scientists will provide information and innovative
solutions for an understudied impact of climate change on human health.

IMPACT, ENGAGEMENT AND DISSEMINATION PLAN

1. How users will be engaged in the project.

We define 'users' as: i) Nepalese people who live in the district of Jumla whose food
production / consumption is affected by pollination, ii) agricultural development personnel in
government and non-governmental organisations both within and outside Jumla who are
involved in sustainable farming practices and conservation / management of pollinators; iii)
conservationists and government and non-governmental environmental organisations; iv)
local NGOs in CBOs in Jumla and external development partners in Nepal; v) nutrition and
dietary intake specialists in Nepal and beyond; vi) policy makers with interests in climate
change, agricultural productivity, biodiversity, food and nutrition security and diet; vii)
climate change, pollination and nutrition / public health scientists in Nepal and the global
academic community.

We will engage users in the project in the following ways:

1) Reaching the actual stewards of the land is what matters to make a change. Therefore,
we will run a Pollinator Awareness Program in Jumla on the importance of pollinators
for biodiversity maintenance, crop pollination and healthy diets.

2) Practices will only be adopted through local buy-in. To this end, there will be a
national-level and a local-level stakeholder engagement meeting at the beginning and
end of the project to attract buy-in and interest at both levels. A wide range of local
stakeholders will be invited to these, including rural and urban municipality officials,
health and agricultural extension workers, Nepal Agricultural Research Council
(NARC) field researchers, health workers, members of community forest user groups
and local farmer and beekeepers' associations, local NGOs and CBOs, youth clubs,
school-teachers, and students. Between them, the team has access to a large network
of contacts in Nepal.

3) Results will only matter if positive impacts are sustained through time. With this aim,
we will establish a Pollinator Monitoring Program with a "Pollinator Information
Desk" at the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) Horticultural Research
Farm in Rajikot, Jumla.

4) Local initiatives need central support. As a team we will propose a National Pollinator
Strategy for Nepal, circulating the idea for comment and suggestions to scientists,
organisations, policy makers and stakeholders in Nepal.

5) Embedding knowledge in the local community. By training local data collectors on
collection of both dietary data and pollinator identification we will ensure that
knowledge of pollinators and their importance will be left behind in the communities
where we work. Similarly study of diet will lead to awareness about healthy diets
which should help to promote production and consumption of insect-pollinated crops.