Protecting elephants by turning poo into paper

Before setting up the Nampath Paper company in Kenya's coastal region, John Matano had been a victim of human-elephant conflicts.

Having been a smallholder farmer mainly rearing maize, Matano, like other local farmers, always faced the risk of losing his crops to marauding elephants from the nearby Shimba Hills National Reserve.

"The elephants would move in large herds, sometimes numbering 100-150, and they would stay for several nights, causing widespread damage," Matano said. "After facing losses, many farmers had nowhere to turn other than to wait for government compensation which would sometimes get delayed. That is why we had to get alternative means of handling the problem."