Human Dimensions in Mitigating Elephant Crop Raiding in Bia Conservation Area, Ghana

The New England Biolabs Foundation supported key stakeholders in a project to mitigate elephant crop raiding in Bia Conservation Area in western Ghana as a means of conserving elephants and improving food security in the area.... [ view full abstract ]

The New England Biolabs Foundation supported key stakeholders in a project to mitigate elephant crop raiding in Bia Conservation Area in western Ghana as a means of conserving elephants and improving food security in the area. This collaborative form of managing crop raids involved training local farmers from affected communities to demonstrate the efficiency of several crop raiding mitigation strategies on their farms. Farmers were supplied with start-up materials to apply the knowledge on their farms in 2016. Comparison of crop raids indicated a significant reduction in raids after start of the project, with the chilli (hot pepper) grease method being the most deterrent to elephants. The low levels were assessed to peak in June where elephants only targeted large farms with matured crops. This observation is in contrast with previous studies where raiding incidences were associated with proximity of farms to park boundary or diversity of food crops on farms. The fact that elephants were restricted in selecting nearby and diverse crop farms could be attributed to the general improvement in elephant repellent methods on farms during the project period. However, the general difficulty to effectively surround and safeguard large farms with the chilli-grease fences may explain their relative preference to be raided by elephants. Given that most farmers are incapable of resettling and farming elsewhere, farmers should be encouraged to limit their farm sizes and grow less attractive crops that have low crop-raiding risk. In future, farmers should also invest towards establishing longer and more effective communal fences.