COMACO Hypotheses

Selected hypotheses, listed below, provide an experimental framework for testing COMACO's capacity to apply its principles and their relevance to conservation and human well-being.

• Land use patterns will favor improved natural resource management when the total value of income benefits from COMACO-supported commodities minus indirect costs for adopting conservation practices to produce these commodities exceed the total value of alternative markets minus the cost of not adopting conservation practices.
• The cost of enforcing conservation regulations across rural landscapes will decrease through COMACO's combined influence on reducing poverty and domestic food shortages.
• Household attitudes to conservation will improve in response to increased food security and income supported by COMACO's strategy to link markets and incentives for food security to conservation.
• Added value benefits of COMACO to the national economy will exceed the investment costs of establishing COMACO as a self-financing approach to managing rural landscapes across the Luangwa Valley ecosystem.