Elephants for Africa's Community Empowerment

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to share a major milestone from our human–elephant conflict mitigation work in central Botswana.

Thanks to your generous support through GlobalGiving and the Elephant Crisis Fund, Elephants for Africa has successfully completed a new solar-electric cluster fence for the Ndapawali farming community (meaning “an abundance of francolins,” a native bird species), located near the village of Rakops.

The completed fence now protects approximately 40 hectares of farmland, directly benefiting six farming households and their families. Ndapawali lies close to an artificial water point, making it particularly vulnerable to elephant incursions during the dry season. Prior to this intervention, farmers experienced repeated crop losses with consistently low yields and dangerous elephant encounters. 

Through peer-learning visits, governance meetings, and hands-on training, farmers worked closely with our team to install, electrify, and test the fence, while also building the skills needed for long-term maintenance and collective management.

Alongside the fence installation, we continued delivering Living with Elephants and conflict-mitigation workshops, reaching approximately 50 community members, and distributed locally sourced chilli deterrents to support farmers living outside electrified clusters.

Historically, we have supported larger clusters but often encountered governance challenges. The Ndapawali Cluster, however, provides valuable insights into how small, cohesive farmer groups can successfully manage shared infrastructure and coexist with wildlife. We will continue monitoring outcomes to inform evidence-based scaling of this approach in other high-conflict areas.

Thank you for supporting community-led solutions that protect both livelihoods and elephants. Your contribution is helping make coexistence possible in one of Botswana’s most challenging human–elephant conflict landscapes.

With gratitude,
The Elephants for Africa Team