Farmers in Thailand are finding an unusual way to protect their livelihoods from hungry elephants: replacing crops such as sugar cane and bananas with coffee.
Elephants are known to raid crops they enjoy, but coffee plants are generally less attractive to them. By switching crops, farmers hope to reduce encounters with elephant herds without fencing them out or harming the animals.
The change comes against the backdrop of serious human-elephant conflict in Thailand. Over a six-year period, reports recorded about 150 people killed and more than 133 injured in encounters with wild elephants, while more than 90 elephants also died, including some that were electrocuted by protective wires.
However, researchers caution that coffee is not a guaranteed elephant-proof crop. Studies in India's Western Ghats have documented elephants eating ripe coffee berries, showing that the animals can sometimes adapt to crops that are considered less attractive.
The biggest challenge for Thai farmers is time. Coffee bushes can take three to four years before producing a meaningful harvest, meaning farmers must wait longer for income compared with fast-paying crops such as sugar cane.
For now, farmers are experimenting with coffee, chilli, marigolds and beekeeping as ways to create income while reducing conflict with elephants.
The idea is simple: find a way for farmers and elephants to share the same landscape without either side paying the ultimate price.
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