HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT IN MAHIGA ‘B’ VILLAGE OF NYERI DISTRICT, KENYA

Key words: Conservation, Livelihoods, Crop damage, Coping strategies, Elephant migration

The nature of the conflict between people and wildlife at local levels is not fully understood. Decision-making regarding resolution of human wildlife conflict is constrained by limited knowledge about the circumstances within which these conflicts occur. Detailed local level descriptions of the nature of the conflict, people’s coping strategies, people’s livelihoods, nature of loses and the diverse factors that drive the conflict are rare. Thus conflict mitigation is constrained by inadequate understanding of the realities that surround particular areas that are prone to human-wildlife conflict. This study focuses on wildlife conservation in Kenya and its impact on the livelihoods of residents of Mahiga ‘B’ village in the south-western reaches of Mount Kenya. with special reference to elephant migration.

People began settling in Mahiga ‘B’ village in 1980. The land occupied by the village was formerly a livestock-rearing ranch owned by a white settler. Each resident was allocated land measuring 4.6 acres. The settlement process has been slow with much of the land in the village being unoccupied. The residents are basically farmers who cultivate maize, kidney beans, Irish potatoes and wheat as their main crops. Being a semi-arid area that receives just over 500 mm of rain per year, the success of a cropping season depends on the amount of rain that falls. Crop failure rates are high. Villagers also keep livestock such as cattle and sheep but also goats although at a smaller scale. Income from the sale of milk constitutes an important source of income for the villagers although this is also highly dependent of rainfall. Additional income is obtained by sale of sheep or goats. A negligible number of the villagers have permanent employment with a majority of the men engaging in freelance low paying jobs. Other men engage in casual labor within the village, which includes digging, weeding, fence repairs, etc. The women are predominantly farmers with a few engaging in other economic activities such as teaching and casual labor in the village.

2. Background of human-wildlife conflict

The village is bordered to the north by Solio ranch. Solio is a livestock-rearing ranch. The ranch provides appropriate habitat to a diverse range of wildlife that include elephants, buffalo, rhino, eland, giraffe, bush pig, cheetah, hyena, etc. To its east the village is bordered by Sangare village, which in turn borders, Sangare ranch. Sangare is a livestock rearing whose natural vegetation also provides appropriate habitat to elephants, bush pig, buffalo, etc. Wildlife resident or transient in the livestock ranches invades village farms, attack cultivated crops and damage infrastructure leading to social and economic loses on the part of the farmers.

A serious conflict of interest exists between the farmers, the ranch owners and the Government over this situation. The ranches derive economic benefits from the presence of wildlife while the farmers incur social and economic loses. The Government is committed to wildlife conservation because of the immense contribution it makes to the country’s GDP through tourism.

3. Crop damage and coping strategies

The fieldwork conducted from October 2004 to January 2005, revealed that the conflict situation in the study area is more complicated and urgent than previously perceived. Thirteen bird species and twelve species of mammals attack cultivated crops at different stages of growth: sowed seeds, emerging cotyledons, first leaves, flowering parts, vines, immature pods of kidney beans, young tubers and mature crops. Attacks on crops by wildlife occur both during the day and at night. To successfully cultivate crops the villagers have to be vigilante day and night from the day of sowing to the day of harvesting which could take as long as 6 months in the case of maize, 4 months for Irish potatoes, 4 months for wheat and 3 months for kidney beans. This is practically not possible for their livelihood demands that they engage in other activities such as grazing, firewood collection and drawing water that limit the time available to guard against wildlife during the day. Night time is normally for resting but mature maize; Irish potatoes and wheat are attacked at night by bush pig, eland and elephant giving villagers sleepless nights. Adequate rainfall gives hope of a bumper harvest to the villagers but wildlife becomes a limiting factor. Infrastructure such as fences is also damaged.

The villagers coping strategies include applying the black carbon residue from dry cells to maize seeds to deter attacks by birds, erecting scarecrows to deter antelopes, tying animal parts on trees to deter elephants erecting plastic papers to deter birds and antelopes, chaining dogs in the farm to deter birds and antelopes, guarding, beating metallic objects at night, lighting fires in the farm at night, trapping, replanting maize seeds several times in a season to out compete birds, sowing maize seeds in a nursery then transplanting to the farm to avoid attacks by birds, etc. Though the success of these methods is limited, the fact that the farmers apply them indicates that they perceive some reprieve from their use.