mutezo is a wildlife lawyer, farmer, and mandela washington fellow from the teapot-shaped landlocked country in southern africa known as zimbabwe. this country is not only mutezo’s home, but host to a quarter of the world’s elephant population.

as a child, mutezo spent most of her summer holidays in a small rural village known as nyanyadzi in the town of chimanimani. while there, she nursed a love of nature, community, and agriculture, as she spent most of her leisure time in the fields with friends or in the wild. when mutezo’s father got a job for a coal mining company, her family had to relocate — and their new home just so happened to be situated around one of the oldest national parks in zimbabwe, hwange national park — also known as zim park. while at the park, she learned that every 15 minutes, an elephant is killed in the wild. this explains why only about 400,000 elephants are left in africa today, as opposed to the 10 million wild elephants that roamed the continent in the 1930s, according to the world wildlife fund.

despite this, zimbabwe has one of the largest elephant populations in the world, with a population of more than 100,000 elephants. although a testament to effective conservation efforts, this poses several challenges, as the current population exceeds zim park’s stated ideal capacity of 40,000 elephants. while elephants are near extinction in other parts of the world, zimbabwe is struggling to devise strategies to cope with overpopulation, yet the threats remain the same: human-wildlife conflict and poaching.

human-wildlife conflict is a big issue in zimbabwe, where most wildlife are found in protected areas adjacent to rural, communal lands. and not only is the elephant population increasing, the human population shares the same growth curve. the country increasingly sees food security threatened by elephants that encroach into human spaces, destroying crops and killing humans. mutezo believes this problem can be solved, which is the reason for her choice of educational path.

“after completing high school at peterhouse girls school in zimbabwe, i left my home and family to study environmental law at the university of groningen in the netherlands, one of the most prestigious law schools in europe,” mutezo says. “it was a platform for exposure to various fields of law including my area of specialization — wildlife law.”

during her studies, mutezo had the opportunity to work at the wildlife justice commission (wjc), which greatly shaped her perspective of the wildlife industry.

“it was during my work at wjc that i gained a better understanding and appreciation of the fact that wildlife crime is one of the most lucrative, illegal businesses in the world and considered a multi-billion-dollar industry,” mutezo says.

with the mass exodus of african youth to europe and america in search of better opportunities, one would expect mutezo to stay in the netherlands for “greener pastures.” instead, she packed her bags and returned to zimbabwe.

“motivated by my combined love for people and nature, and equipped with the knowledge gained from my studies and work in the netherlands, i decided to return to zimbabwe,” mutezo says. “it struck me deeply that it took leaving my home to appreciate the impact that wildlife crimes, such as poaching, have on zimbabwe — and the entire globe. my goal was and remains to find home-grown solutions to local and global issues such as wildlife crime. i would like the future generations to enjoy wildlife, too.”

it has been over 5 years since mutezo moved back to zimbabwe, and she has dedicated her law degree to wildlife conservation by working with the tikki hywood foundation.

“i am the first lawyer employed by a conservation organization in zimbabwe,” she says. “my work in case management includes legal advisory on various wildlife crime cases, including cross-border and high-profile matters, and has set precedence as to how wildlife crime cases should be handled across the region. my contribution also extends to drafting and amending key legislation including laws that ensure that endangered species such as rhinoceros, pangolin, and painted dogs are recognized and given the highest protection at law.” 

by developing partnerships with various national authorities, she co-authored a handbook on prosecuting wildlife crimes and educated law enforcement and judicial officers across zimbabwe on wildlife and the law.

“it has been a great honor to innovate and find ways to use the law as a tool to conserve and protect wildlife,” mutezo says. 

having participated in the 2022 cohort of the u.s. state department’s flagship leadership program for young african leaders, the mandela washington fellowship (mwf), at the university of nebraska-lincoln, mutezo feels she has an even tighter grip on her vision to solve the human-wildlife conflict in her country. (in full disclosure, mwf is where this author met mutezo.)

she returns with a wealth of knowledge and access to resources to effectively execute her focus project at hambai wild, a registered agri-business she founded, with the goal of finding solutions to the human-wildlife conflict, by creating natural boundaries between humans and wildlife.

“my solution to this problem is to use one endangered species to protect another, by encouraging beekeeping to scare elephants,” she says. bees, as well as chili pepper, act as natural repellents against elephants. 

“mwf allowed me to turn an idea into an action plan,” mutezo says. “the access to a coach also gave me an opportunity to fine tune the idea into a viable business model that i intend to bring to fruition back in zimbabwe. i also pitched my project to different people from whom i got constructive feedback to transition from inception to execution.”

she intends to use her prowess as a farmer and knowledge as a wildlife lawyer and policy expert to engage communities affected by wildlife conflicts.

to be more practical, she says, “hambai wild will use the contract farming model, by providing inputs to local communities such as seedlings, beekeeping kits, and by empowering the local population with technical expertise and training to grow chili peppers and keep bees. this would allow us the option of buying back the produce and selling sustainably sourced produce.”

just like in a colony where each bee plays a contributing role to the survival of the hive, she looks forward to strategic partnerships with other organizations that have successfully implemented similar models, like save the elephants in kenya and awf (african wildlife foundation) in uganda. 

says mutezo: “i encourage collective action by everyone to protect the zim’s natural resources for future generations.”

kilimatembo — which translates to “hill of elephants” — is far from the only village struggling with issues of human-elephant conflict. crop-raiding by elephants has become a pressing issue in areas bordering protected land, leading to reduced crop yields, a negative perception of elephants in local communities, and, in some cases, injuries and deaths of both humans and elephants as farmers are forced to confront these giants head-on.

bees may be the shockingly small and simple solution to this problem. while tiny in stature, these insects pack quite a punch, especially where elephants are concerned. elephants tend to avoid areas where bees are prevalent, seemingly because the sensitive skin around their eyes, ears, and trunk gives them a nasty predisposition towards painful stings. jumping off from this idea, lucy king of save the elephants, an ngo devoted to minimizing human-elephant conflicts, developed a beehive fence for use in african farmsteads, which is quickly being adopted throughout africa and asia.

the need for bees

with more land coming under cultivation, solutions to wildlife conflicts, such as those posed by elephant crop raiding, are more needed than ever. one study conducted by catrina mackenzie and peter ahabyona in a village in uganda near kibale national park found that farmers lost an average of 1.5% of their household capital asset wealth over the course of six months from elephant crop raiding. this can be especially troubling for small-scale subsistence agriculturists like julius, who rely directly upon their crops for food throughout the year.

some areas in kenya, such as kimana sanctuary, have employed electric fences to keep elephants and other potentially destructive wildlife within protected areas and away from human settlements. however, this method of fencing wildlife in, can be destructive to migratory wildlife, and is thus unsustainable in many areas. on the other hand, bordering farmland with electric fencing is not cost effective for the typical small-scale agriculturist, especially as much of the rural population in east africa and southeast asia, where wild elephants still roam, lack access to electricity.

beehive fences provide a sustainable solution for many agriculturists. bee boxes can be constructed from a variety of local materials such as wood and old tires, and thus tend to be a more a cost-effective approach to wildlife conflict mitigation. save the elephants estimates typical start-up costs as low as $150 per 100 meters of fencing. in addition, once bees move into the bee boxes, farmers may accrue additional food or income from the collection of honey and honeycomb as well as increased crop yields associated with the presence of more pollinators.

how it works

to construct a beehive fence, empty bee boxes are strung on a wire surrounding the field of interest. within a few months, wild bees typically move into these boxes to create a living, breathing fence. if an elephant attempts to enter the field, they will likely jiggle the line connecting the boxes, which, in turn, shakes the beehives along the outskirts of the field. it is likely that the would-be crop thief will rush back into the safety of the forest even before the jostled bees swarm, forced into flight by the fearful noise of their most tiny, ferocious enemies.

looking forward

preliminary trials in kenya have proven that bee box fences are more effective than traditional thorn bush barriers or western-style fencing at keeping elephants at bay, with a success rate of over 80%. while more trials are needed, these results prove promising for the future of farming within east africa and southeast asia, especially as beehive fences are relatively cheap and easy to implement.

beehive fences have already been employed in thirteen different countries throughout africa and asia, including tanzania, and the practice is continuing to spread.

in kilimatembo, julius still speaks of the devastation that an overnight visit by an elephant can cause to his or his neighbor’s fields. however, beehive fences have become more common in the area, appearing in neighboring villages as the practice becomes better known. with any luck, bees will soon become regular inhabitants of kilimatembo as well, increasing the food security of rural families like julius’s.

it just goes to show: sometimes to solve big problems, you have to think small.