The report is one of a suite of three studies that have been completed to contribute to the development of a comprehensive business plan for the industry alliance, Pollination Australia. The other two components are a review of the research and development requirements of the pollination industry and a risk management strategy for the pollination industry.

Who is the report targeted at?
The report is targeted at all who have an interest in the pollination industry in Australia including beekeepers, those who grow pollination-dependent crops and those who service, support and regulate these activities.

Background
In April 2007, a Honeybee Industry Linkages Workshop was held. At this workshop, it was proposed that the industry alliance, Pollination Australia, be formed. The workshop:
gave rise to a project to produce a business plan for the Australian pollination industry

• identified the major risks to the pollination industry in Australia as
• the incursion of the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) or other exotic bee pests and diseases
• restricted access to native floral resources
• specified the development of
• a biosecurity risk management strategy for the pollination industry
• a biosecurity research and development plan for the pollination industry
• an education and training strategy for the pollination industry.

A briefing paper was prepared to support the preliminary analysis and assist in the determination of issues for discussion at a workshop on 10 December 2007 in Canberra. The paper addressed:

• current education and training initiatives in the pollination industry and pollination-dependent industries
• the skills and competencies required to develop paid pollination services
• education and training implications of alternative pollination approaches
• initial thoughts on the pollination industry and pollination-dependent industry education and training gaps and future needs.

The education and training strategies being studied in detail in this project and the identification of opportunities for implementation will provide input into consideration of the research and development (R&D) gaps and priorities. The outcomes of this research will be included in development of a business plan for Pollination Australia.

Aims/Objectives
The objectives of the study have been to determine the education and training needs of pollinators that allow them to develop a business model and appropriately price services including:

• investigation of the education and training needs for the development of a quality assurance program within the pollination industry
• investigation of the opportunities for formal recognition of training, such as national certificates/diplomas, and the use of units of competency already established and cross training in other pollination-dependent industries.

Outcomes from this study and from the parallel studies of risk management and research and development were discussed in a workshop of future Pollination Australia alliance members in March 2008. The outcomes will also be used to develop immediate directions that an alliance can work towards within the framework of a business plan that will be developed by June 2008.

Methods used This study has used the processes generally applied to assess training needs in industry, including rural industries.

The education and training study has been completed in seven stages:

1. Project inception.
2. Literature review and preparation of the briefing paper.
3. Consultation with current training providers and beneficiaries of training and briefing paper update, incorporating research and development and risk management insights and consultation outcomes.
4. Workshop to review current education and training initiatives and to establish prospective pathways and priorities.
5. Draft education and training report prepared and submitted.
6. Final education and training report submitted.
7. Presentation to industry alliance members.

Results/key findings
The study has identified and prioritised honeybee and pollination-dependent industry education and training needs and issues. The results are detailed below:

Registered training organisations
While very few registered training organisations (RTOs) currently have the specialist delivery area of beekeeping as part of their scope of registration, many RTOs are certified to provide training in agricultural and horticultural qualifications. The rules that cover the issue of these qualifications allow most of these RTOs to offer formal programs in beekeeping and related areas, provided that the programs meet the requirements of the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF)1.

Underpinning national standards for education and training
In the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, competency standards have been developed that cover functions relevant to pollination. In principle, these standards form the basis of any accredited or publicly-funded vocational programs, particularly those used in traineeship programs. With the exception of the voluntary B-Qual industry quality assurance program, there are no standards or examinations administered by any beekeeping association in Australia.

Identification of required skills and knowledge relating to pollination services The existence of nationally endorsed competency standards for beekeeping and the skills that they cover is not known beyond a small cohort of stakeholders very familiar with the Australian beekeeping vocational education and training system. As a consequence, the skills and knowledge needed for pollination service provision, or beekeeping in general, are rarely discussed or identified in specific terms in papers or reports addressing the Australian apiary industry. In addition, the functional analysis undertaken for the development of the beekeeping competency standards did not address the skills required of growers.

As the requirements for the provision and securing of pollination services is refined and documented through occupational and training needs analyses, further work remains to be done to review the original beekeeping competency standards

Industry quality assurance or accreditation programs
B-Qual Australia Pty Limited (B-Qual) has been established by the Australian Honey Bee  Industry Council (AHBIC) as an independently developed and audited food safety program to accredit and ensure adoption of a quality assurance program for greater than 90 per cent of the production of the Australian honeybee industry. The project has developed accreditation and trained industry participants in quality assurance standards, organic standards and biosecurity, and provided an ongoing third-party audit system.

All enterprises are required to participate in the B-Qual education program and develop a quality system prior to accreditation being granted. It is not known how many honey producers, if any, have been audited against the pollination standard.

There are a number of industry-owned and/or managed quality assurance programs for growers.

A specific gap in industry quality management protocols is the consideration of the standards to ensure effective and efficient pollination, including the interface between growers and beekeepers with regard to honeybee health and pollination effectiveness. An assessment of strategic plans, policy papers and annual reports for a number of the grower industry bodies found little reference to issues of pollination and the application of quality assurance protocols to the utilisation of managed hives on growers’ properties for pollination purposes. The almond industry is a clear exception, with its acknowledgment of the importance of pollination protocols and their relationship with the beekeeping industry.

Delivery of education and training relating to pollination
There are no pollination-specific courses in Australia. As far as can be determined, pollination is addressed mainly at a theoretical level in agricultural/horticultural programs currently being offered at either higher education or vocational levels. The focus in almost all cases is on biological processes.

The development of beekeeping or business skills relating to pollination service delivery are not addressed.

Training in business modelling and the pricing of services
Beekeepers providing pollination services, either directly to growers or through a broker or other arrangement, will require an appropriate business structure and will need to undertake business planning, marketing and pricing of their services. Therefore, beekeepers are no different to all enterprises engaged in the provision of agricultural/horticultural services to clients.

No specific provision should be made for the development of targeted business modelling and pricing of education for beekeepers. Mainstream courses in small business management and agricultural enterprise should be sufficient for the acquisition of the necessary skills.

Training in the identification and measurement of risks and benefits involved in offering paid pollination services

The barriers to new entrants to the field of pollination services appear to be higher than for honey production. Amongst the considerations are:

• understanding the direct and indirect costs incurred in providing managed hives, including transport infrastructure, staffing and associated on-costs, hive maintenance and monitoring, utilisation of floral resources, insurance and regulatory requirements
• specifying the capability of managed hives for paid pollination and the requirements of crops for pollination
• contracting with one or more growers, including scheduling the delivery of hives, pricing, use of chemicals, liability
• negotiating the terms of the services to be provided and/or received
• certifying quality assurance, including documentation of outputs and outcomes associated with the operation of managed hives and the reporting and monitoring of pests and diseases, hive activity and well being
• maintaining and upgrading skills to conform with evolving standards and competencies.

Beekeepers are likely to have a long-term contractual arrangement with a specific broker who, in turn, will have a variety of contractual relationships with a range of pollination-dependent growers on both a continuing and casual basis. Pollination brokers will be the specialists in the business of managed pollination services. Beekeepers will be specialists in the application of managed pollination, and growers will be specialists in the appropriate utilisation of managed pollination for their crops.

Training in the pricing of services and the development and use of business models
As with business modelling, there is little evidence that the general needs of beekeepers for training in the pricing of services and use of business models within the identified risk environment are any different from those of other agricultural contracting sectors. There would be a benefit in offering a series of workshops or other training events specifically targeting beekeepers who are considering a change in primary business activity from honey production to pollination service provision or contemplating an extension of their activities into pollination broking.

Industry quality assurance
The pollination process and biosecurity management across the pollination supply chain are currently under-represented in biosecurity and quality assurance (QA) programs within both the apiary and horticultural industries.

Enhancing the status of pollination and its biosecurity management in such programs would contribute to an improvement in the standards of pollination management and assist in minimising the incidence and impact of pests and diseases on the pollination industry.

Arrangements whereby the QA programs of the apiary industry and the pollination user industries are closely articulated with one another would ensure that the biosecurity interests of all parties to the pollination industry are better addressed.

Training for the development of a quality assurance program in the pollination industry
Growers and beekeepers are required to conform to established industry quality assurance protocols and systems. It is the responsibility of AHBIC and each of the relevant grower organisations concerned with the effective production of pollination-dependent crops to ensure that all operatives in their industry sectors comply with established quality structures.

Training will be needed to support implementation of quality assurance systems and standards (such as the pollination standard established by B-Qual).

Development of education and training competency units
Existing units of competency for relevant areas of beekeeping, business skills, production, horticulture, and to a lesser extent agronomy, are satisfactory bases from which to develop curricula and learning programs that will address the needs of those involved with the provision of pollination services. The qualification structures for vocational education and training programs are also flexible enough to allow for the inclusion of units of competency relevant to pollination services.

Both the qualifications and units of competency must continue to be reviewed to ensure that they remain relevant to the emerging needs of the pollination industry.

Pollination Australia should identify the most important and unique skill sets for pollination service providers, growers and brokers. It should also ensure that these skill sets reflect the requirements of industry quality assurance programs and are included in the relevant nationally endorsed training packages.

Location of training courses
Currently, as there is a relatively low demand for training across all the jurisdictions in Australia, it would be practical for one institution to take a national role in the training of apprentices in beekeeping. Through a combination of distance and on-campus education in the apiarists’ winter or ‘off season’, an appropriate curriculum could be delivered in a cost-effective manner to support the training of future beekeepers from across Australia. The consolidation of a critical mass of teaching and industry expertise in one institution would also support training in managed pollination.

Incorporation of pollination education and training into mainstream programs
It is appropriate that all agricultural personnel are educated in the importance of the beekeeping industry and that all agricultural, horticultural and agronomy courses cover the key knowledge areas of insect/plant interactions, the role of honeybees in crop pollination, and the adverse effects of some farm chemicals used for crop protection on honeybees.

Costs of training requirements
All people participating in training will have to meet some costs, which can include such direct costs as materials, tools, equipment, travel, accommodation, use of computers and internet time. In addition, those individuals already employed in an enterprise may be required to forego earnings by spending time on learning new skills that would be used to increase their profitability or earning power into the future.

Procurement of funding by Pollination Australia or pollination industry stakeholders to develop industry supported packages and engage industry participants will be an important factor in the success of the education and training program.

Formal recognition of training
The future industry alliance, Pollination Australia, would actively promote and encourage recognition of prior learning (RPL) for the members of its industry constituents, focusing initially on skill sets or small groups of units of competency that directly link to B-Qual or other relevant quality assurance programs.

Implications for relevant stakeholders
The implementation of an education and training program and a competency framework for provision of bee pollination services will ensure the industry develops and maintains a high calibre, uniformly skilled workforce. The execution of such education and training will also attract younger individuals into the beekeeping industry. This is important, as the existing honeybee workforce is ageing and new labour is not currently forthcoming. The implications for relevant stakeholders are such that, without pollination, there is an increased cost of food production and a decrease in the quality of fresh produce.

Recommendations
It is recommended that results of this study be used to set directions for education and training for Pollination Australia. This will contribute to the framework of the Pollination Australia business plan which is expected to be completed by June 2008.