Farmers feel abandoned as elephants ravage crops

Despite earning a combined income of N$30 million during the 2024–2025 financial year, communities around conservancies in the Zambezi region say they are deeply concerned over recurring crop destruction by elephants.

They say the problem discourages farmers in the region.

This was revealed in a report following an oversight visit by the parliamentary standing committee on natural resources to the Zambezi, Kavango East and Kavango West regions from 11 to 15 November 2025.

According to government policy, compensation is only provided when damage is caused by elephants or buffalo, while losses caused by other animals are excluded, leaving many farmers uncompensated. The communities also voiced disappointment with the response of conservancy managers.

“When cases are reported, conservancy often delay responding to them, citing a lack of transport. Even when they do respond, their communication and attitude towards affected farmers are described as poor and unsympathetic," the report states.

They explained that the compensation provided by the government is far less than the resources and effort invested in crop production.

"As a result, some community members resort to killing those problematic animals, which often leads to their arrest. The situation is worsened by masses of buffalo and elephants crossing from Botswana and destroying crops in the process,” the report added.

Payments not received

The committee found that farmers who lost their crops as far back as 2023 are still waiting for compensation.

“The delay is attributed to the conservancy receiving insufficient funds from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism. Currently, the conservancy is not in a position to pay the farmers, as its financial resources are strained, with most funds diverted to cover high legal expenses incurred through court cases."

Community members also raised concerns about delays in receiving their financial benefits, which amount to N$40 000 per beneficiary.

This was a concern from the Ibbu community, who complained that they had not received their financial benefit that was received by other member communities.

The Salambala management committee confirmed this as true, stating that the delay was due to late submission of quotations by the Ibbu community.

However, the committee assured the community that the outstanding financial benefit of N$40 000 per beneficiary will be made available.

Recommendations

The committee also observed that despite a growing dependency on trophy hunting, conservancies – either directly or through the environment ministry – have not produced a single trophy hunter.

It further noted that during concession assessments, management committees are often exposed to negotiations with knowledgeable potential partners, while communities lack such expertise. This imbalance, the report warned, may affect the pricing of species and could be manipulated in favour of concessionaires.

The committee also called on the environment and tourism ministry to urgently address human settlement within core wildlife areas, warning that human presence continues to disrupt habitats and undermine conservation efforts.

It further recommended that the ministry strengthen wildlife management by constructing and maintaining proper fencing to prevent animals from straying into villages and crop fields, helping protect both people and wildlife.

The parliamentarians also urged the ministry to ensure reliable water sources for wildlife by drilling and maintaining boreholes in concession areas to reduce the movement of animals into human settlements in search of water.

Additionally, it recommended that the ministry support the Salambala Conservancy in establishing camp facilities to diversify income and reduce reliance on trophy hunting.

It also said there is a need to assist conservancies in creating a standardised pricing framework for trophy hunting to promote fairness and ensure communities benefit maximally from wildlife resources.

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