By Cindy Kirui
In many locations where elephants once trampled crops under the cloak of night, a quiet revolution is unfolding and many farmers can rest easy knowing that their farmyards with crops are safe. Where fire and decibel dominated the range of methods to chase away elephants marauding, today, technology fights for many.
Kenya’s iconic wildlife portends both pride and peril. Elephants, lions, and buffaloes destroy crops, kill livestock and human beings and cause losses in the hundreds of millions. Between 2018 and 2023, over 3,000 human-wildlife conflict incidents were reported, with compensation delays exacerbating despair.
“For communities, wildlife felt less like a heritage and more like a curse,” once admitted Erastus Kanga, Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). But not anymore going forward. Enter Kenya’s tech-driven renaissance. GPS collars, once reserved for research, now track elephant movements in real-time, syncing data to mobile platforms like M-Tech Alerts.
Farmers receive SMS warnings, enabling pre-emptive action in a system that has slashed crop raids by 60% in pilot regions. Drones, too, patrol vast landscapes, scanning for herds and dispatching rangers to potential hotspots.
In Amboseli, for instance, aerial surveillance has reduced retaliatory lion killings by 45% since 2022. Meanwhile, the LionGuard app, developed with conservation NGO Save the Elephants, crowdsources data from herders to map predator movements. Low-tech solutions are equally transformative.
Solar-powered “predator-proof bomas” reinforced livestock enclosures have curbed nighttime raids by 80% in Kajiado, thereby restoring economic stability among pastoralist communities.
The Twiga Cube, a chilli-infused brick that repels elephants without harm has been adopted by 5,000 households, leading to cutting crop losses by half.
The newly digitised compensation system is further cementing trust among communities that have previously endured inordinately long waits. Mobile platforms like M-Pesa now deliver funds to victims claiming low figures within 90 days, compared to the long waits of the past.
Since 2014, Ksh. 4.8 billion has reached affected families, enabling investments in education, healthcare, and sustainable farming. Of that amount more than half has been disbursed inside the over two years Kenya Kwanza has been in power. Sometimes and in some places limited Internet connectivity hampers tech adoption.
However, as technology gets to the last mile in the foreseeable future, most of Kenya will be covered and every potentially vulnerable person will have no reason to feel excluded. Undeterred, Kenya’s vision to replace conflict with coexistence is scaling up well.
President William Ruto’s plan to fence all major wildlife corridors by 2027 is most welcome and so is the much-awaited national database that will help track conflicts in real-time. Meanwhile, partnerships with firms like Safaricom promise expanded rural connectivity, ensuring that no community is left behind.
Nowadays, collared elephants amble through secured corridors, their paths guided by the same technology shielding farmers’ fields. In this synergy of silicon and savannah, Kenya charts a path where innovation heals wounds, and humanity and wildlife thrive as allies.
Cindy is a budding music scholar, human rights activist and a commentator on social affairs.
