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This article is part of a series aimed at fostering grassroots wildlife conservation networks in urban areas.
The best time to visit Ghana for wildlife viewing is during the dry season, from November to March. This is when the elephants in Mole National Park are most visible, crossing one of the main wildlife corridors in the West African sub-region.
For visitors from outside Africa, the high cost of safari trips to see animals in their natural habitat may not be surprising. However, they may wonder about the human efforts involved and what is at stake whenever they see an elephant.
In West Africa, elephants typically migrate from September to November, a transitional period between the rainy and dry seasons. They cross the Nabdam District and the Bawku West District in the Upper East Region of Ghana. As urban settlements encroach on these areas, elephants often find themselves in farmlands outside the towns, following their ancestral routes.
These majestic creatures consume and trample crops and turn cultivated lands into watering holes where they drink. Additionally, they push down shea nut trees to eat the fruits, leaving behind depleted plantations and devastated farmers who can only watch helplessly from safe distances. In some instances, elephants destroy rice farms by transforming them into swamps where they play to cool off.
The destruction of farms causes severe economic losses, jeopardizing smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and threatening food security in urban areas. Farmers in the Upper East Region contribute up to 80% of Ghana’s food supply, selling their crops—such as groundnuts, Bambara beans, yam, millet, sorghum, vegetables, and sweet potatoes—to intermediaries who supply local markets.
Occasionally, elephants do encounter people. The consequences can be deadly for either party. Tragically, in August 2021, an elephant killed a 42-year-old farmer in the North East Region of Ghana. The problematic coexistence between elephants and farmers near urban areas underscores wildlife conservation challenges. Joseph Binlinla, Regional Manager of the Ghana Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, oversees the Upper East, Upper West, and Northern Belt regions and noted that human-elephant conflicts arise from human expansion into established wildlife territories. As Africa’s population continues to grow, with an anticipated 70% living in cities by 2050, wildlife corridors will increasingly overlap with farmlands.
Binlinla mentioned that elephants and other wildlife, such as antelopes and snakes, migrated freely before recorded history. However, elephant populations have significantly declined due to poaching, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflicts.
In the second half of the 19th century, ivory exports were booming. While not all ivory would have been sourced from the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana), merchants likely preferred to poach ivory from the region to minimize transportation costs. In 1949, to curb the destruction of crops and control tsetse flies in the Northern Territories, the colonial government rolled out a policy to extirpate herbivorous game animals that served as hosts for the tsetse fly. Thousands of elephants were killed as a result of this policy, according to the study Changes in elephant movements in the Western Wildlife Corridor, Ghana, by The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF),
In the 1970s, Ghana had a population of 20,000 to 30,000 elephants. Today, that number has dwindled to an estimated 900 to 1,000 elephants, according to this study by CIFOR-ICRAF.
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In the small town of Zebilla, women farmers’ cooperatives have eased tensions between conservationists keen to protect wild animals in their natural habitats and the communities that must live alongside dangerous wildlife. Women farmers are disproportionately affected by elephant invasions since they are the main contributors to food production in farmland near urban areas and rely on their harvests for sustenance and economic stability. To address these challenges, they have organized into cooperatives, such as the Maaltaaba Peasant Women Farmers’ Cooperative, utilizing WhatsApp groups to create strong networks that amplify their voices regarding the elephant-human conflict.
These women have implemented small measures to ward off elephants: burning their dung with pepper, hanging solar lights around farms, blasting gunpowder, and using metallic objects that bang against each other to create noise to divert the elephants’ course. While these methods provide only temporary relief, the farmers work closely with conservationists and local authorities to find community-based solutions that promote sustainable agricultural practices while minimizing elephant encounters. One innovative solution they are exploring is the use of beehive fences.
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Elephants have a natural fear of bees. Studies have shown that beehive fences can effectively protect crops from elephants. A study by Oxford University concluded that 80% of elephants approaching the beehive fences were deterred from entering the farms. Beehives are attached to fence posts and connected with wires. When an elephant attempts to breach the fenced area, it knocks into the cables, causing the beehives to sway and disturb the bees. The bees then attack the elephant, discouraging it from entering.
Rashi Imoro, Director of the Department of Agriculture in the Nabdam District, explained that implementing beehive fences on farms provides additional benefits, such as promoting sustainable agriculture, pollination services, and producing “elephant-friendly” honey. When this article was written, the Department of Agriculture in the Nabdam District was preparing to roll out a pilot program; however, challenges such as the initial costs of setting up beehives and the lack of farmers experienced in managing bee colonies posed significant hurdles.
The Maaltaaba Peasant Women Farmers’ Cooperative has reached out to non-profit organizations for support for their initiatives, which would not only improve the livelihoods of single mothers, teenage girls, and individuals with disabilities but also support the harmonious coexistence with wildlife that contribute to food security in urban areas.
The beehive fence initiatives could foster a more positive attitude towards elephant conservation efforts within local communities. They can help reconcile the conflicting agendas of conservation organizations and the reality of farmers’ coexistence with wildlife that affects their food supply in urban areas. One recommendation from a study by CIFOR-ICRAF suggests implementing GPS tracking of elephants to understand their numbers and movements better. However, scientists could rethink their approach to conservation and engage with local communities at all levels. The Maaltaaba Peasant Women Farmers’ Cooperative can use its WhatsApp group to share real-time observations of elephant movements with conservation groups.
While we all want to see and protect these beautiful animals, specific urban communities bear the brunt of the consequences of coexisting with wildlife. There is ample opportunity to help support local farmers. Researchers, local governments, and safari goers could dig deeper into their pockets to support farmers if global problems, such as biodiversity and food security, are to be solved.
