The economic impacts of pollinator declines: An approach to assessing the consequences

Since agricultural activities were first recorded, there have been shortage s of pollinators. Today it seems that pollination systems in many areas of agriculture are threatened by the inadequacy or lack of sustainable managed , indigenous, or imported pollinators. Pollinator shortages can adversely a ffect crop production and commodity markets. This paper presents an economi c model than can be used. to measure some of the economic impacts of pollin ator deficits on traded commodities. This economic analysis indicates that consumers of a commodity affected by a pollinator deficit may suffer becaus e the commodity costs more and becomes less available. At the same time, al though the producers of the affected commodity may experience crop declines , they may also experience economic gains in the form of higher prices. The amount the producer gains or loses depends on the shape of the supply and demand functions, and the magnitude of these losses or gains is an empirica l question. Although there are few data available to evaluate this model, t hose we do have indicate that serious problems for world food supply, secur ity, and trade could be in the offing if current declines in pollinator abu ndance, diversity, and availability are not reversed. Various crops and cro pping systems are suggested as practical starting places for economic studi es of the effects of pollinator declines, with emphasis on the type of data required.