The COMACO Model for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Conservation in the LuangwaValley, Zambia

The COMACO Model for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Conservation in the LuangwaValley, Zambia

Background

In 2001, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) undertook a large-scale intervention with World Food Programme (WFP) to target the Luangwa Valley's poorest and most food-impoverished households (considered the most likely to degrade their natural resources). The initiative provided direct food support to farmers who underwent training in sustainable farming technologies and improved land use practices. Since 2002, over 30,000 households have participated in this program, learning ?conservation farming? techniques such as the utilization of zero tillage with pothole farming, composting with ?green manure,? crop rotation, and improved seed varieties versus the use of less sustainable practices, such as burning crop residues and ridge plowing. To spur adoption of these and other improved land management practices, WCS and community and District-level leaders together developed a business model that links markets, agriculture and natural resource management. This model, created to address the core needs of poor, food insecure families, became known as Community Markets for Conservation, or COMACO.

COMACO?s foundation is the building of human capital in marginalized, rural communities to successfully grow selected commodities that lead to increased food security and reduced conflicts with land and natural resources. COMACO then facilitates the conversion of commodity surpluses into products with sufficient quality and added value to drive both markets and incentives to keep producers committed to these commodities. Through its commitment to address problems of poverty and hunger, COMACO is able to reduce a range of transaction costs through increased cooperation among producers, such as storage, production quotas and commodity quality controls. It also promotes synergies between conservation and rural development through a careful selection of production practices that enhance natural resource management.

COMACO's structure consists of a network of rural trading depots which maintain trade flow to regional Community Trading Centres (?CTCs?), where rural commodities are processed, packaged and marketed as "added value," environmentally-friendly products. Each CTC is formulated around business plans that are executed by trained business managers with a goal of operating profitably after an initial 3 to 4 years of start-up investments.

In 2004 WCS helped launch the first CTC in Lundazi District as a non-profit limited-by-guarantee company with a legal mandate to invest profits in food security, household income improvement and natural resource conservation. WCS opened the second CTC in Masumba District in June 2006, and will open a third in Luangwa District in late 2006. Currently 33,000 farmers are organized into over 3000 producer groups. Each group is registered with one of 36 trading depots, and follows by-laws generated by the producers themselves concerning the use of improved farming technologies and land use practices. Adherence to these by-laws qualifies a producer to trade benefits, such as increased producer prices and access to low-cost inputs.

Many other models of poverty reduction rely on micro-loan mechanisms to finance inputs and improve skills, so that people who receive such support can earn their way out of poverty. However, in the absence of economic infrastructure to support such advancement, this approach can lead to frustration as increased earnings do not materialize. COMACO operates under a different set of principles. It first identifies those people having the least food security, and trains them in sustainable agricultural practices that minimize threats to natural resources. In addition, it identifies people responsible for severe natural resource depletion (e.g. those hunting illegally for their livelihood), and trains them to generate alternative sources of income. Critically, the model then applies market incentives and a business infrastructure that make it in one?s best interests to maintain these practices. Growth in numbers of participants confers additional negotiating strength for bulked sales, while simultaneously allowing the business to invest in itself and develop new products and markets, creating an environment where economic self-sufficiency based on sound land management is within reach.

Over the past four years, WCS has led efforts to pilot-test this model in Lundazi, Chama, and Mambwe Districts in Eastern Province. This paper is a preliminary analysis of these efforts and an assessment of the COMACO model?s effects on family income, food security, and household behavioral changes leading to sustainable natural resource management.

COMACO Pilot area

The initial COMACO area, established in 2002, covered 5 chiefs? areas in Luangwa Valley, including Mwanya, Chitungulu, Kazembe, Chifunda, and Chikwa (see Figure 1). These are collectively referred to as the COMACO core area. Since 2004, new areas were added and these are referred to as the COMACO extended valley area or extended plateau areas.

Figure 1.

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