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How solar energy is easing deadly human-wildlife conflict in regions bordering Tsavo
Kyusyani Secondary School Principal Albert Musyimi conducts a computer studies lesson in Makueni County on January 29, 2026. The sub-county institution operates exclusively on solar power, part of a digital literacy initiative designed to bridge the energy gap in off-grid regions.
What you need to know:
On a sweltering late January afternoon, dozens of students cluster around sleek laptops inside a computer laboratory at Kyusyani Secondary School in Makueni County.
Their faces light up as they race to access web pages under a teacher’s direction. This is the most exciting lesson in a school that isn’t even connected to the national electricity grid.
“We are not bothered by the scorching sun. In fact, it enables us to teach computer studies smoothly. Students now look forward to this class,” says Albert Musyimi, the school principal.
Also read: New guardians of Tsavo: Students mentored to take charge of conservation
The solar power system and state-of-the-art computer laboratory have propelled this sub-county mixed day secondary school into the ranks of prestigious institutions offering computer studies. Kyusyani is one of nine secondary schools in the region bordering Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks to benefit from a series of investments by Tsavo Trust, a non-governmental organisation that operates a vibrant conservancy in the area.
Tsavo Trust states that investing in solar power and digital literacy programmes has enabled learners in this quiet, rural area to catch up with their peers across the globe.
“Harnessing the sun to power schools has bridged a digital divide that would have significantly disadvantaged learners in this region,” said Nicholas Njogu, a manager at Tsavo Trust.
Beyond supporting schools, Tsavo Trust promotes drought-tolerant crops to build sustainable livelihoods in a region once notorious as a poachers' paradise.
To enhance drought resilience, the organisation and its partners assist communities in harvesting rainwater using farm ponds.
Clean energy
An ambitious clean energy programme is also underway, training local youth to produce energy-saving stoves and linking them to business opportunities, a move aimed at reducing reliance on biomass fuel and curbing deforestation.
The initiative includes training youth to produce energy-conserving stoves and connecting them with business opportunities.
“We have partnered with communities and other key stakeholders to help mitigate human-wildlife conflict. This has ensured that communities embrace conservation because they directly experience its benefits. Instead of viewing wildlife as a threat, they now see it as an asset,” Mr Njogu told Healthy Nation during the recent commissioning of Nthunguni and Ngiluni dispensaries, which the Makueni County government revamped with support from Tsavo Trust.
Makueni Health Chief Officer Harvey Mulei has since announced plans to upgrade the two dispensaries to Level 4 hospitals following the renovations.
These interventions are intended to make life more bearable in a region that has become a flashpoint for human-wildlife conflict. Attacks by stray elephants and carnivores have killed at least six residents and an unquantified number of livestock over the past five years. Among the victims was Mutinda Mutisya, a groundsman at Tsavo Trust, who was trampled by a rogue elephant nicknamed Mwanzia on his way to work.
A recent regional public participation forum in Kitui Town on the proposed revision of the Wildlife Compensation Act heard that more than 1,000 Makueni County residents are awaiting compensation for the destruction of their crops and water tanks. The region bordering Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks accounts for the majority of these victims.
Also read: Kwale’s human-wildlife crisis deepens as compensation stalls
Inculcating a culture of conservation among young people sits at the heart of the investments by conservationists in the region, once known as a poachers' paradise. Mark Knittel, the CEO of ARES, an NGO that works closely with Tsavo Trust to roll out a digital literacy programme in remote schools bordering national parks, said conservation is a key element of the digital content students access.
“We have a wide range of conservation-related education modules on the servers for students to explore. The children we work with live in close proximity to conservancies; they are the vital link between their communities and these protected areas. We provide them with the tools to better understand and interact with their environment. We also offer extensive adult education programmes on sustainable farming and livestock production,” he told Healthy Nation.
The efforts are paying off.
Authorities have noted a drastic reduction in poaching, which Nthunguni Assistant Chief Cyrus Ndambuki attributes to collaboration between the Kenya Wildlife Service, conservancies, and communities bordering Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks.
“Students here are now conservation-conscious. When I arrived last year, they told me, ‘We don’t kill wild animals, even snakes and insects—we call trained handlers,’” said Principal Musyimi. “The seeds of conservation are sprouting. We believe we are raising a community that will value conservation.”
His view is echoed by Henry Yelo of Kiteng’ei Secondary School, another beneficiary of the digital programme.
“We used to see elephants as menacing destroyers. Today, we see them as assets. We are, in a sense, milking elephants.”
The school has also slashed its operational costs after receiving a robust solar power system from Tsavo Trust.
“Although we are connected to the national grid, solar is our primary source of power. Our system is designed so that grid electricity serves as the backup. We only switch it on during cloudy weather. This investment has dramatically lowered our operational costs. With grid power alone, our monthly electricity bill averaged Sh15,000. Since adopting solar, that cost has dropped to around Sh5,000 per month,” said Mr Yelo.
Sustained conservation efforts are helping rewrite the region’s story. Elephant attacks have dropped significantly since the Makueni County government and
Tsavo Trust installed a solar-powered elephant exclusion fence. The spread of orchards across the landscape signals reduced crop destruction.
“The elephant exclusion fence has significantly reduced instances of elephant attacks. Before the fence was completed, we relocated approximately 1,300 elephants from farmlands back to the park in 2021. By 2025, that number dropped to around 27. This marks a dramatic decline,” said Tsavo Trust CEO Richard Moller.
The national government has now embarked on extending the electric fence to fully enclose the national parks and cover neighbouring regions, signalling a brighter future for an area where the sun burns intensely yet powers progress.
On a sweltering late January afternoon, dozens of students cluster around sleek laptops inside a computer laboratory at Kyusyani Secondary School in Makueni County.
Their faces light up as they race to access web pages under a teacher’s direction. This is the most exciting lesson in a school that isn’t even connected to the national electricity grid.
“We are not bothered by the scorching sun. In fact, it enables us to teach computer studies smoothly. Students now look forward to this class,” says Albert Musyimi, the school principal.
The solar power system and state-of-the-art computer laboratory have propelled this sub-county mixed day secondary school into the ranks of prestigious institutions offering computer studies. Kyusyani is one of nine secondary schools in the region bordering Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks to benefit from a series of investments by Tsavo Trust, a non-governmental organisation that operates a vibrant conservancy in the area.
Tsavo Trust states that investing in solar power and digital literacy programmes has enabled learners in this quiet, rural area to catch up with their peers across the globe.
“Harnessing the sun to power schools has bridged a digital divide that would have significantly disadvantaged learners in this region,” said Nicholas Njogu, a manager at Tsavo Trust.
Beyond supporting schools, Tsavo Trust promotes drought-tolerant crops to build sustainable livelihoods in a region once notorious as a poachers' paradise.
To enhance drought resilience, the organisation and its partners assist communities in harvesting rainwater using farm ponds.
An ambitious clean energy programme is also underway, training local youth to produce energy-saving stoves and linking them to business opportunities, a move aimed at reducing reliance on biomass fuel and curbing deforestation.
The initiative includes training youth to produce energy-conserving stoves and connecting them with business opportunities.
“We have partnered with communities and other key stakeholders to help mitigate human-wildlife conflict. This has ensured that communities embrace conservation because they directly experience its benefits. Instead of viewing wildlife as a threat, they now see it as an asset,” Mr Njogu told Healthy Nation during the recent commissioning of Nthunguni and Ngiluni dispensaries, which the Makueni County government revamped with support from Tsavo Trust.
Makueni Health Chief Officer Harvey Mulei has since announced plans to upgrade the two dispensaries to Level 4 hospitals following the renovations.
These interventions are intended to make life more bearable in a region that has become a flashpoint for human-wildlife conflict. Attacks by stray elephants and carnivores have killed at least six residents and an unquantified number of livestock over the past five years. Among the victims was Mutinda Mutisya, a groundsman at Tsavo Trust, who was trampled by a rogue elephant nicknamed Mwanzia on his way to work.
A recent regional public participation forum in Kitui Town on the proposed revision of the Wildlife Compensation Act heard that more than 1,000 Makueni County residents are awaiting compensation for the destruction of their crops and water tanks. The region bordering Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks accounts for the majority of these victims.
Inculcating a culture of conservation among young people sits at the heart of the investments by conservationists in the region, once known as a poachers' paradise. Mark Knittel, the CEO of ARES, an NGO that works closely with Tsavo Trust to roll out a digital literacy programme in remote schools bordering national parks, said conservation is a key element of the digital content students access.
“We have a wide range of conservation-related education modules on the servers for students to explore. The children we work with live in close proximity to conservancies; they are the vital link between their communities and these protected areas. We provide them with the tools to better understand and interact with their environment. We also offer extensive adult education programmes on sustainable farming and livestock production,” he told Healthy Nation.
The efforts are paying off.
Authorities have noted a drastic reduction in poaching, which Nthunguni Assistant Chief Cyrus Ndambuki attributes to collaboration between the Kenya Wildlife Service, conservancies, and communities bordering Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks.
“Students here are now conservation-conscious. When I arrived last year, they told me, ‘We don’t kill wild animals, even snakes and insects—we call trained handlers,’” said Principal Musyimi. “The seeds of conservation are sprouting. We believe we are raising a community that will value conservation.”
His view is echoed by Henry Yelo of Kiteng’ei Secondary School, another beneficiary of the digital programme.
“We used to see elephants as menacing destroyers. Today, we see them as assets. We are, in a sense, milking elephants.”
The school has also slashed its operational costs after receiving a robust solar power system from Tsavo Trust.
“Although we are connected to the national grid, solar is our primary source of power. Our system is designed so that grid electricity serves as the backup. We only switch it on during cloudy weather. This investment has dramatically lowered our operational costs. With grid power alone, our monthly electricity bill averaged Sh15,000. Since adopting solar, that cost has dropped to around Sh5,000 per month,” said Mr Yelo.
Sustained conservation efforts are helping rewrite the region’s story. Elephant attacks have dropped significantly since the Makueni County government and Tsavo Trust installed a solar-powered elephant exclusion fence. The spread of orchards across the landscape signals reduced crop destruction.
Jumbo attacks
“The elephant exclusion fence has significantly reduced instances of elephant attacks. Before the fence was completed, we relocated approximately 1,300 elephants from farmlands back to the park in 2021. By 2025, that number dropped to around 27. This marks a dramatic decline,” said Tsavo Trust CEO Richard Moller.
The national government has now embarked on extending the electric fence to fully enclose the national parks and cover neighbouring regions, signalling a brighter future for an area where the sun burns intensely yet powers progress.
