Caprivi farmers use chilli peppers to deter hungry elephants

KONGOLA – Conservancies and farmers in the Caprivi Region are testing a powerful, non-lethal weapon against marauding elephants that destroy crops.

The humble chilli pepper – used in the manufacture of Tabasco Pepper Sauce – was initially used in North America as a deterrent against bears and was found to be equally effective against other large mammals – including elephants. Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique now use chilli products to keep pachyderms out of fields while a pilot phase in Namibia has yielded promising results.And there is long-term potential for farmers to grow chillies as a cash crop.Ironically, good conservation measures, the introduction of conservancies and changing attitudes towards wildlife have resulted in greater human-elephant conflict in north eastern Namibia.And as the rainy season draws to a close, up to 9 000 elephants will move into the narrow Caprivi Strip from neighbouring countries in search of food.Reports indicate that 462 incidents involving crop damage from elephants were recorded by conservancy game guards in Caprivi last year.Losses amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaving many farmers hungry and without income.Highly intelligent, elephants become habituated to traditional deterrent methods such as banging drums, cracking whips and lighting fires.Some have also become accustomed to gunshots fired overhead by conservancy game guards and Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) officials.Electric fences around crop fields are expensive to erect and maintain.At a national level, a Human Wildlife Conflict Management Policy workshop was held in Windhoek recently to discuss mitigation measures for losses from so-called problem animals – including elephants.While a policy is being drafted, farmers and conservancies are proactively looking for new ways to reduce conflict.They have teamed up with Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) and WWF-Life Plus’s newly established Conservation Farming Project to plant experimental chilli plots in Salambala and Kwandu conservancies.Tabasco seeds were sourced from the Elephant Pepper Development Trust in Zambia and have so far yielded good harvests.Local farmer Susan Mubitelele of Maritzburg near the Ngoma border post in Salambala Conservancy says her first crop of chillies have grown well and she expects to sell most of them to WWF.Mubitelele says she is happy with her yields and will grow more chillies in the next growth season.She believes other farmers will soon follow her example and plant their own fields.According to the IRDNC’s Beavan Munali, dried chillies are shaped into chilli briquettes – sometimes called chilli bombs – which are roughly the size of an average sweet melon.Munali’s recipe for each briquette is simple – two handfuls of crushed, dried chillies are mixed with three handfuls of elephant dung and small amounts of water.They are then left to dry for a few days and stored for later use.Crushed dried chillies are sometimes mixed with grease and smeared on cloths, which are placed like flags around fields, although briquettes are more effective.When elephants approach fields, briquettes are lit and left to smoulder.The smoke results in a burning sensation in elephants’ eyes while mucous membranes in trunks are 100 times more sensitive than those of humans, causing real short-term discomfort.Elephants do not become habituated to the smoke as they do to loud noises and other ’empty threats’ so they tend to stay away from fields.Munali and Mubitelele believe that the idea will quickly spread once the effectiveness of the briquettes has been demonstrated.Meanwhile, the IRDNC is continuing efforts to pilot a self-insurance scheme where conservancies will soon begin to pay out stipulated amounts for crop losses under strict conditions.* Linda Baker is a freelance environmental publicistZimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique now use chilli products to keep pachyderms out of fields while a pilot phase in Namibia has yielded promising results.And there is long-term potential for farmers to grow chillies as a cash crop.Ironically, good conservation measures, the introduction of conservancies and changing attitudes towards wildlife have resulted in greater human-elephant conflict in north eastern Namibia.And as the rainy season draws to a close, up to 9 000 elephants will move into the narrow Caprivi Strip from neighbouring countries in search of food. Reports indicate that 462 incidents involving crop damage from elephants were recorded by conservancy game guards in Caprivi last year.Losses amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaving many farmers hungry and without income.Highly intelligent, elephants become habituated to traditional deterrent methods such as banging drums, cracking whips and lighting fires.Some have also become accustomed to gunshots fired overhead by conservancy game guards and Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) officials.Electric fences around crop fields are expensive to erect and maintain.At a national level, a Human Wildlife Conflict Management Policy workshop was held in Windhoek recently to discuss mitigation measures for losses from so-called problem animals – including elephants.While a policy is being drafted, farmers and conservancies are proactively looking for new ways to reduce conflict.They have teamed up with Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) and WWF-Life Plus’s newly established Conservation Farming Project to plant experimental chilli plots in Salambala and Kwandu conservancies.Tabasco seeds were sourced from the Elephant Pepper Development Trust in Zambia and have so far yielded good harvests. Local farmer Susan Mubitelele of Maritzburg near the Ngoma border post in Salambala Conservancy says her first crop of chillies have grown well and she expects to sell most of them to WWF.Mubitelele says she is happy with her yields and will grow more chillies in the next growth season.She believes other farmers will soon follow her example and plant their own fields.According to the IRDNC’s Beavan Munali, dried chillies are shaped into chilli briquettes – sometimes called chilli bombs – which are roughly the size of an average sweet melon.Munali’s recipe for each briquette is simple – two handfuls of crushed, dried chillies are mixed with three handfuls of elephant dung and small amounts of water.They are then left to dry for a few days and stored for later use.Crushed dried chillies are sometimes mixed with grease and smeared on cloths, which are placed like flags around fields, although briquettes are more effective.When elephants approach fields, briquettes are lit and left to smoulder.The smoke results in a burning sensation in elephants’ eyes while mucous membranes in trunks are 100 times more sensitive than those of humans, causing real short-term discomfort.Elephants do not become habituated to the smoke as they do to loud noises and other ’empty threats’ so they tend to stay away from fields.Munali and Mubitelele believe that the idea will quickly spread once the effectiveness of the briquettes has been demonstrated.Meanwhile, the IRDNC is continuing efforts to pilot a self-insurance scheme where conservancies will soon begin to pay out stipulated amounts for crop losses under strict conditions.* Linda Baker is a freelance environmental publicist