Why bees matter?

Bees are the most efficient pollinators in the natural world. They help in fertilising over 75% of the world’s crops, making them essential not just to biodiversity but to our plates as well. In recent years, however, changes in land use, chemical farming and habitat loss have placed enormous pressure on wild pollinators.

This survey was designed to collect baseline data which can provide information on conservation strategies and sustainable farming practices.

​The survey: what we saw?

Between mid-2024 and early 2025, I visited 19 rural locations across Maharashtra. These included farmlands, forest fringes, and agroforestry zones – habitats where both domesticated and wild bees forage and nest.

A total of 12 species of bees was recorded, each with its unique ecological role and behaviour.

Bee Species Recorded

What the data tells us?

Top spot goes to Apis florea – a wild honey bee that builds open nests. It was seen most often and in the highest numbers (19 individuals), showing its adaptability to rural landscapes. Apis cerana indica the domesticated Indian honey bee, also showed good presence. Its coexistence with wild bees is crucial for both ecology and livelihoods. Carpenter bees like Xylocopa tenuiscapa (8 individuals) suggest that some natural nesting habitats still persist, possibly in wooden structures or hollow stems. Solitary bees like Amegilla, Nomia and Pseudapis appeared in small numbers. their low visibility may point to reduced nesting spaces or competition for floral resources.

Rare Bees such as Tetragonula iridipennis (a stingless bee) and Ceratina smargdula highlight the fact that the hidden world of tiny pollinators is often overlooked in agricultural landscapes.

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Ecological Reflections

This Survey confirms that despite growing development pressures, many native bee species are still present in Maharashtra’s rural ecosystem. However, the relatively low numbers of several species raise red flags about their long-term survival.

What can we do?

• Plant more native flowers to support year-round foraging.
• Reduce pesticide use, especially during the flowering season.
• Preserve nesting habitats – mud walls, tree hollows, hedgerows, and open soil.
• Raise awareness among farmers about pollinators and role in crop yields.

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Bees and the future of farming

Bees are natures tiny farmers. Supporting them support us. As. Climate change disrupts weather patterns and crop cycles fostering a rich pollinators community in a no regret investment for resilience, based on the bee diversity data collected from 19 locations in Maharashtra, several key observations emerge; species like Apis florea, Apis cerana indica and Xylocopa tenuiscapa are relatively common while others such as Tetragonula iridipennis and Ceratina samaragdula are rare. Solitary and less visible species are under-represented possibly due to habitat degradation, competition, or lack of nesting and floral resources.

​Bee Conservations Solutions and Activities

1.Enhance Floral Diversity

Why: Diverse Flowering Plants provide food year-round for a variety of bee species.

Activities: Establish Pollinator Garden using native flowering species in school grounds, community spaces and farm bunds. Promote intercropping and border planting with flowering plants like marigold, sunflower, niger, coriander and basil. introduce seasonal flowering trees and shrubs.

2.Create nesting habitats.

Why: Solitary and carpenter bees need specific habitats like open soil, wood cavities, and wall. crevices.

Activities: Install bee hotels using bamboo, wood blocks, and drilled logs. Leave patches of bare ground in farms and gardens for ground nesting bees like lasioglossum and Nomia. Avoid excessive tillage and land levelling in the off season. preserve mud walls, old trees and natural hedgerows.

3.Minimise pesticide Use

Why: pesticides are a major threat to both managed and wild bee populations.

Activities: Promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and use bio-pesticides like neem oil. Educate farmers on safe spraying times (early morning or evening when bees are less active) conduct farmer training on the impact of systematic insecticides like neonicotinoids.

 4.Farmer and Community Awareness

Why: Long term conservation depends on local participation and understanding.

Activities: Conduct village-level awareness campaigns using posters, wall paintings. Street plays and short films. Train SHGs, Youth and School children on the importance of bees celebrate World Bee Day (May 20) through community events bee walks.

5.Monitoring and Citizen science

Why: Local Monitoring helps track trends and fosters a sense of ownership.

Activities: Encourage citizen science by training local youth to document bee sights (e.g. using platforms). Develop a seasonal monitoring protocol to track species diversity and abundance. Collaborate with local institutions for research and data validation.

6.Policy and convergence

Why: Integrating bee Conservation into existing rural programs ensures scale and sustainability

Activities: Integrate pollinator-friendly practices into MGNREGEA, Watershed Programmes and Agroforestry schemes, partner with FPOs and cooperatives to  promote bee-friendly labelling and practices.

7.Promote Beekeeping and stingless Bee culture

Why: Beekeeping and Livelihoods and improve pollination.

Activities: Promote Apis cerana indica and Tetragonula iridipennis as an income-generating activity, especially for SHG and Youth; train framers in bee box maintenance, hive management, and honey processing; link bee products to local markets or agritourism initiatives. These activities together create a resilient, pollinator-friendly landscape that supports not just biodiversity, but also better crop productivity, climate resilience, and ecological balance.

Community health is crucial for ensuring longer, healthier lives, addressing health disparities, and increasing access to care, education and engagement. Communities which respond to critical health initiatives such as hygiene, nutrition, chronic diseases and mental well-being enjoys higher life expectancies with better health indicators.

India’s tribal population which is 104 million or 8.6% of the total population, faces significant health challenges, including higher rates of infectious diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, malnutrition, and non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart disease with lower life expectancy. Key factors affecting community health include access to healthcare, affordable housing, nutritious food, social support and a healthy environment.

In tribal areas, inadequate access to comprehensive primary health care services, hygiene, sanitation and lack of awareness, are the primary reasons for poor health status of the community. In view of this, there is an urgent need to develop suitable mechanisms to bring low-cost, affordable and accessible healthcare systems to rural and tribal areas for ensuring access to health by everyone.

Herbal traditional systems led by traditional healers and well accepted by the community can be integrated into the system to take care of the primary health needs in villages at a nominal cost. Their knowledge needs to be systematically documented, promoting cultivation and propagation of medicinal herbs which can ensure sustainability. There is a need to harness the traditional healthcare system to supplement the mainstream healthcare mechanism in the country.

Need for Empowerment of Traditional Health Practitioner (THP)

1. Lack of access to comprehensive primary health care services by the tribal community
2. THPs are the primary point of contact for health services without authentication.
3. Lack of modern knowledge and equipment for mainstreaming with the present health practices.

BAIF is addressing these challenges with livelihood generation and focussing on preventive health to improve the quality of life of tribal and rural communities through the following initiatives:

• Empower and enhance the quality, security of health care services to rural and tribal community through traditional healers.
• Authentication of THPs by Quality Council of India (QCI) Conserve, promote native medicines through Healers channel.

Tribal healers serve as essential connectors to bridge the healthcare gap and achieve these goals.

Community benefits

• Accessibility
• Availability of improved comprehensive primary health care services.
• Linkages with modern health care system.

Environmental benefits

• Conservation of Biodiversity
• Sustainable Resource Management

Individual benefits

• Increased income as supplementary livelihood
• Authentication
• Quality of life.

Conclusion

This health care model integrates traditional healing practices with modern healthcare with the goal of improved healthcare in tribal villages. Traditional medicine moves closer to culture and is available at an affordable cost thereby preventing exploitation. As Indians are accustomed to dietary restrictions, it becomes an integral part of traditional medicine and thereby increases acceptance among the community. The community are able to avail of primary health services in the village itself with the creation of a cadre of Traditional Health Practitioner (THPs) who remain an essential aspect of the complementary healthcare system in tribal areas. This system showcases a unique Health Delivery model for further scaling up and replication in other tribal regions of the country.

Case Story : A ray of hope for tribal families

Smt. Manjulaben Patel, a certified tribal healer from Amdha village in Valsad district of South Gujarat, has become a beacon of hope for her community. Prior to the certification through Vasundhara trust her skills and knowledge were unrecognized. However, her passion and dedication for healing, led her to assist other tribal healers and offer free healthcare to the tribal families. Despite a modest background, Manjulaben actively learnt and expanded her expertise in naturopathy through training received at the Nature Cure Ashram at Uruli Kanchan, Pune.

Her active participation in various forums such as Healers meet, Academic institute interactions and a Congress on “Ayurveda” helped strengthen trust among the community. As a result, her livelihood and quality of life improved significantly. Today, she earns an average of ₹70,000 per month and has established her own healthcare centre, “Charak Vanoushodhi Evam Kudarati Prathama Upchar Kendra,” where she provides treatment for various ailments such as paralysis, arthritis, joint pain, diabetes and women’s health issues. So far, she has treated around 11,200 patients.

Manjulaben also promotes traditional medicine and conservation of medicinal plants through the herbal garden established by her. As a mentor, she guides young healers and offers valuable knowledge on the use of herbs to local colleges.  Her journey is an inspiring example of how Women healers can make a significant impact on their communities and also enjoy improved quality of life.

Introduction:

​In a world where healthcare accessibility often seems like a privilege rather than a basic right, the BAIF Swayamsahayata Vima Samiti initiative stands out as a beacon of hope. Established in 2002, this innovative health insurance programme responds to the health needs of 1,281 women from 81 self-help groups (SHGs) across 30 hamlets covering 10 villages of Haveli and Daund in Pune district of Maharashtra. By facilitating discussions on the problems encountered by these women in accessing reliable health care services, BAIF Development Research Foundation has addressed the critical issue of lack of priority towards women’s health due to financial constraints.

Identifying the Problem:

During a workshop attended by representatives of various SHGs, it became evident that women’s health concerns were not mobilising adequate attention. The analysis revealed two significant challenges:

1. Lack of Designated Health Funds: Rural households often did not allocate any funds for addressing the health of women in the household expenses.  In the absence of financial support, the health of women was generally neglected.
2. Neglect of Minor Health Problems: Many minor health problems were ignored, resulting in their escalation. This neglect created a deterioration in the health condition which could have been prevented with timely intervention.

Realising the urgent need for a structured approach to health care of women, the Swayamsahayata Vima Samiti (Self-Help Insurance Committee) was constituted at the wadi-vasti as well as village level.

Collaborative Effort and Support:

Swayamsahayata Vima Samiti was formed due to the joint effort of BAIF, GTZ Germany (a government-owned organisation for international cooperation), Maharashtra State Health Department and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). This effort enabled women to receive priority attention and to access affordable health insurance benefits.  For a nominal annual premium of Rs. 200 to Rs.250, women could secure themselves against ill health and ensure coverage of various health care expenses.

Health Coverage Benefits:

​The scheme enabled women to manage and benefit from their health insurance collectively. All the 21 villages participating in this health scheme, elected a representative to establish an insurance committee. This committee managed funds by opening bank accounts for the members in nationalised banks and facilitated the payment of the annual premium. The scheme offered the following health coverage for rural women:

1. Hospitalisation Coverage: In the case of hospitalisation for conditions covered under the scheme, insured women could access financial support up to Rs.5,000, including coverage for expectant mothers.
2. Accidental Coverage: Minor injuries from accidents were covered with women receiving Rs.25,000 as assistance along with medical expenses.
3. Permanent Disabilities: In the unfortunate event of a permanent handicap resulting from an accident, the affected individual was entitled to receive up to Rs.50,000.
4. Death Benefits: The scheme offered Rs.20,000 for natural deaths and Rs.50,000 for accidental deaths thereby providing significant support to the bereaved families.

Additional Benefits​:

This unique health insurance scheme also provided the following additional benefits to its members:

1. Scholarships for Children: To encourage education among children, the scheme provided Rs.100 per month scholarship for children of committee members scoring high marks in 9^th to 11^th standards. This initiative not only recognised academic excellence but also supported unfortunate families to continue the education of their children.
2. Subsidised Treatment: Committee members who availed of treatment at the Nisargopachar Ashram at Uruli Kanchan near Pune, benefitted from subsidised boarding and treatment expenditures while benefitting from nature cure.
3. Loan Facilities for Claims: For those applying for claims, a loan of either Rs.3,000 or 50% of the claim amount (whichever was lower) was available at half the rate of interest charged by SHGs thereby providing immense financial relief during emergencies.
4. No-Claim Bonus: To reward members who had not claimed any benefits for consecutive five years, a no-claim bonus of Rs. 300 was instituted. This initiative encouraged health management and preventative health care through counselling by doctors and regular health check up.

Claim Process:

The process for claiming benefits was simple and efficient. Each village-level representative collected the claim documents every month, ensuring that all the committee members could have access to their entitled benefits. Claims were settled on the last Saturday of every month, with payments issued to the claimant or their dependents and deposited immediately in their bank accounts.

Impact:

The impact of the Swayamsahayata Vima Samiti initiative has been far-reaching. Improved health outcome for women members of various SHGs have led to visible changes in their livelihood and well-being of their families. The programme has fostered a sense of community solidarity and empowerment and equipped women with the much needed awareness and resources for assured health care.

Financial Overview and Sustainability:

A crucial aspect of the success lies in its financial structure. The cost break up of the Jeevan Beema Yojana (JBY) demonstrates a clear allocation toward health sustainability.

• Medi-claim: Rs. 135
• LIC JBY: Rs. 50
• Medical Check Up: Rs. 30
• Field Guide: Rs. 30
• Administrative Charges: Rs. 30
• No-Claim Bonus: Rs. 25
• Total: Rs. 300

This structured financial approach ensures that the programme remains sustainable while maximising benefits.

Conclusion:

The BAIF Swayamsahayata Vima Samiti is a transformative initiative for women’s health care in rural India. By prioritising healthcare expenses, empowering women through collective action and providing accessible health insurance, the programme has created a resilient community capable of reaching out to one another in times of need.   As more and more women join SHGs and take part in this initiative, the impact on the families and communities will continue to grow. The path towards health equity and empowerment is lit up by the commitment and collaboration of women determined to take control of their health and well-being.

Call to Action:  

​For more details on the Swayamsahayata Vima Samiti initiative or to learn how you can support similar programmes in your community, please contact Mr. Hanumant Bhosale (E-mail: bhosale.hanumant@baif.org.in). Together, we can pave the way for a healthier future of rural women and their families.