By Mubanga Mubanga
human-animal conflicts in Lumezi district of Eastern Province have reduced by 98 percent following a solar-powered project by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW).
The achievement is said to have been made following the installation of a solar-powered polywire fencing project.
Communities bordering Malawi’s Kasungu National Park say they are recording improved harvests after years of crop destruction by elephants moving through the transboundary conservation landscape.
District figures show that 502 cases of human-elephant conflict were recorded in 2025 from Kaleza, Mutu wa Njovu, Chindindindi and Kavikuyu.
This year, only 10 cases have been reported, all occurring outside fenced areas.
Acting district commissioner Malvin Malasha said the intervention had transformed livelihoods in affected communities.
“We are very happy as government that the initiative we carried out with our partners IFAW has worked positively. Farmers are now harvesting according to maximum capacity without elephants disturbing them,” he said.
He added that authorities planned to replicate the intervention using the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
In Wajingo Village, headman Raphael Nyirongo said the fencing had protected his maize fields.
“Because of the polywire fence, I have harvested a huge yard of maize compared to last year. This time I do not have hunger,” he said.
Esnart Banda of Chimwando Village said communities had finally experienced a farming season without elephant invasions.
“Last season elephants were destroying our crops, but this season we have not experienced elephants entering our fields since the polywire fence was installed,” she said.
DNPW officer Pethious Mutale said the fence acts as a deterrent that causes elephants to retreat before entering farming zones.
“When elephants encounter the polywire fence before entering farming areas, they turn back toward the park,” he said.
But not all communities accepted the fencing intervention.
Raphael Jere of Wadokota Village said his family declined the fencing because it would have cut through part of their farmland near the Zambia-Malawi boundary.
“Our crops were destroyed, and the few that were left we could not leave them to dry for fear they would be destroyed,” he said. “We now regret that decision.”
Traditional leader chieftainess Mwasemphangwe praised the partnership between communities, government and IFAW.
“We have had peace since the fencing was installed,” she said. “IFAW has tried very hard to ensure we have minimal problems.”
