{"id":11050,"date":"2022-08-16t17:16:01","date_gmt":"2022-08-16t17:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/bees-and-chili-peppers-a-solution-to-human-wildlife-conflict-in-zimbabwe\/"},"modified":"2023-04-19t21:34:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19t21:34:23","slug":"human-wildlife-zimbabwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/human-wildlife-zimbabwe\/","title":{"rendered":"bees and chili peppers: a solution to human-wildlife conflict in zimbabwe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cwhooooop!\u201d the sound of an elephant. a trumpet greeting \u2014 or warning \u2014 urging us to take action against poaching and human-wildlife conflict. hambai wild, a social enterprise founded by taku mutezo, intends to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s home, but host to a quarter of the world\u2019s elephant population.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"a
taku mutezo is a wildlife lawyer, farmer, and
mandela washington fellow. she founded
humbai wild in hopes of taking action to reduce
human-wildlife conflict. (photos courtesy
taku mutezo)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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\u2019s father got a job for a coal mining company, her family had to relocate \u2014 and their new home just so happened to be situated around one of the oldest national parks in zimbabwe, hwange national park \u2014 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a
in zimbabwe, wildlife often is found next to communal lands, and elephants are encroaching
into human spaces, leading to crop loss and even human deaths. mutezo has a solution that
can help with this problem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cafter 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,\u201d mutezo says. \u201cit was a platform for exposure to various fields of law including my area of specialization \u2014 wildlife law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cit 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,\u201d mutezo says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cgreener pastures.\u201d instead, she packed her bags and returned to zimbabwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cmotivated 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,\u201d mutezo says. \u201cit struck me deeply that it took leaving my home to appreciate the impact that wildlife crimes, such as poaching, have on zimbabwe \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201ci am the first lawyer employed by a conservation organization in zimbabwe,\u201d she says. \u201cmy 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.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cit has been a great honor to innovate and find ways to use the law as a tool to conserve and protect wildlife,\u201d mutezo says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

having participated in the 2022 cohort of the u.s. state department\u2019s 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.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cmy solution to this problem is to use one endangered species to protect another, by encouraging beekeeping to scare elephants,\u201d she says. bees, as well as chili pepper, act as natural repellents against elephants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cmwf allowed me to turn an idea into an action plan,\u201d mutezo says. \u201cthe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to be more practical, she says, \u201chambai 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"two
ultimately, mutezo’s goal is to protect humans, animals, and the natural resources in and
around zim park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

says mutezo: \u201ci encourage collective action by everyone to protect the zim\u2019s natural resources for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

wildlife lawyer and farmer taku mutezo has a solution to zimbabwe’s human-wildlife conflict that uses natural and local resources, and benefits the community as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4919,4929,4935],"tags":[331,441,506,561,4360,282,3838,538],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","category-biodiversity","category-conservation","tag-africa","tag-bees","tag-biodiversity","tag-climate-action","tag-elephants","tag-food-security","tag-human-wildlife-conflict","tag-wildlife"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nbees and chili peppers: a solution to human-wildlife conflict in zimbabwe - planet forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/human-wildlife-zimbabwe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"bees and chili peppers: a solution to human-wildlife conflict in zimbabwe - 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