Farmers near Mt Kenya Forest rest easy as electric fence keeps off jumbos
Mr Julius Mbaya inspects his cabbages at his farm in Marimba along Imenti Forest on August 28, 2019. The erection of an electric fence to keep off elephants from Mt Kenya Forest has come as a relief to farmers in the region. PHOTO | DAVID MUCHUI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Julius Mbaya could not grow anything besides tea due to daily invasions by elephants.
- When the Nation visited his farm, Mr Mbaya was busy tending 7,000 heads of cabbages.
- He said incidences of deaths and injuries caused by elephants along the forest have reduced to zero.
Farmers living along the Mt Kenya Forest are now reaping the benefits of an electric fence that has helped keep off elephants that earlier prevented them from venturing into horticulture as they would destroy crops.
Mr Julius Mbaya, who has lived in Marimba village on the edge of Upper Imenti Forest since 1986, could not grow anything besides tea due to daily invasions by elephants.
His one-acre piece of land that was free of tea bushes lies next to the Nyayo Tea Zone belt and has been idle until 2016 when an eight-strand solar-powered fence was erected.
SLEEPLESS NIGHTS
He said when he attempted to grow French beans and potatoes before the fence was erected, he lost the entire crop despite several sleepless nights warding off the jumbos.
“KWS owes me Sh116,000 from the damage caused by elephants in 2014. Due to the fencing, we have now diversified from tea farming and we can rest at night without fear of elephant attacks. From the vegetable sales, I was able to build a permanent house,” the farmer said.
The 60-kilometre electric fence stretching from River Thuchi in Tharaka-Nithi County to River Thingithu in Meru County was completed at a cost of Sh163 million.
It was supported by Upper Tana Natural Resources Management Project (UTaNRMP), the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Rhino Ark Foundation, Mt Kenya Trust and community forest associations.
CABBAGES
When the Nation visited his farm, Mr Mbaya was busy tending 7,000 heads of cabbages in the once idle piece of land.
Another plot had just been planted with peas.
He hopes to make at least Sh250,000 from the cabbages in two months.
“I currently make about Sh100,000 from cabbages, potatoes and carrots every three months. This is money I cannot get from tea. It has been possible because of the electric fence that now prevents elephants from invading our farms,” Mr Mbaya said.
POVERTY
According to UTaNRMP Land and Environment Coordinator Paul Njuguna, the perennial elephant invasions perpetuated the poverty cycle among these peasant farmers.
“Since the fence was put up, human-wildlife conflicts reported annually have fallen from an average of 117 to three cases. More than 90 percent of farmers around the fenced area have diversified into horticultural crops which were previously an elephants’ delicacy,” Mr Njuguna said.
He said incidences of deaths and injuries caused by elephants along the forest have reduced to zero.
In July, the ministerial wildlife conservation and compensation committee said it owed victims of wildlife attacks about Sh5 billion.
