Cooperative Success: Profiles on Eme and Kajilime

Determination, perseverance, dedication and staying focused is what has made the story of Eme COMACO and Kajilime cooperatives in the newly created Chasefu district worth sharing.

The story of the two cooperatives is not just a story, but a story of change and inspiration.

At a time when every small-scale farmer was associated with government cooperatives for the sole purpose of benefiting from the well known Farmer Input Support Program (FISP), a new dimension of self- sustaining and for profit-making cooperative was born. This, of course, was a new initiative that could be embraced only by those willing to take risks.

The story of the two cooperatives can be traced back to the year 2006 when Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) saw the need to engage the community in Magodi chiefdom on the importance of conservation and wildlife protection.

Alfred Kanthangwa Kumwenda – Co-op Secretary for Eme and Kajilime

This inspirational story is best told by Alfred Kanthangwa Kumwenda, the secretary for the two cooperatives. Alfred says when COMACO introduced the idea of conservation-focused cooperatives to the community in Magodi in 2006, he and others immediately took up the challenge of trying something new from the usual.

“We formed producer groups of between fifteen and twenty members with the focus of practising conservation farming. The purpose of having many members was to ensure that work was made light” Alfred said. He added that most people in the community spent a lot of time hiring out labour to other farmers who were more successful in exchange for a bucket or two of maize. “We formed producer groups of between fifteen and twenty members with the focus of practicing conservation farming. The purpose of having many members was to ensure that work was made light”

After realizing that working in other people’s fields instead of their own, resulted in the loss of precious man-hours, COMACO moved in to empower cooperative members with 50kgs of maize, 2.5 liters of cooking oil, 5kgs of cowpeas and 2kgs of salt as a way of encouraging cooperative members to work in their own fields. This, of course, was a shot in the arm as most members were empowered with food thereby increasing production hours in their fields. “Since all the producer groups had members ranging from fifteen to twenty,” explained Alfred, “we came up with a strategy where all members agreed to work in each member’s field then move to the next. In this way, we managed to work in four or more fields per day. This system gave us less time of work and increased the bond among cooperative members.”

As always, where ever humans are, challenges emerge. Some cooperative members became used to the food handouts from COMACO and appeared to expect that this support would continue. Consequently, it took a lot of sensitization of such members until these perceptions could finally be brought to a halt. Yet most members appeared to expect that COMACO would provide them with fertilizer as was the case under the Farm Input Support Programme (FISP). Instead, said Alfred, COMACO came with messages of change –a change that would transform people from conventional farmers to conservational farmers. “We were taught about the need to stop bush burning and charcoal production, and instead to take up crop-rotation and the conservation of wildlife.

In 2012, COMACO gave the cooperative a sum of 5000 Kwacha, to conduct training for the transformed charcoal producers and poachers. Thirty-three people were trained, among them a female Jester Mbale whose late husband was a known poacher in the area. Other poachers had gone into the habit of borrowing her late husband’s gun to use in their poaching activities. “These people were trained in different skills such as carpentry, poultry, and vegetable gardening” Alfred narrated. The efforts and negotiations to persuade poachers to surrender their guns and charcoal producers to stop their trend continued, slowly but surely brought the lost vegetation and wildlife back.

Having put up all those efforts in making sure that bad habits towards the environment are eradicated, Magodi chiefdom saw the stoppage of charcoal production, an increase in wildlife populations, vegetation regrowth and forest cover.

This humble story initiated by COMACO caught the attention of other organizations such as the World Bank and a REDD+ and SALM carbon project was born Through this project, the two cooperatives and the established Community Forest Management Groups (CFMG), received a staggering amount of 600,000 Kwacha from carbon units earnings because of their valuable conservation works in the chiefdom. “We could not believe it but we soon realized that hard work pays off. Though we were surprised with the turn of events, we did not take long to accept the fact that working together for the common good attracts good things too.”

The money that was received from REDD+ and SALM (Sustainable Agriculture & Land use Management) pushed the vision of the two cooperatives towards becoming self-sustaining business entities. Two hammer mills were purchased and installed in Kulikuli area, a 1.5-ton community truck was purchased, Chambuzi School was painted and a teacher’s house was plastered and painted as well.

At Munyakwa School, two modern toilets were constructed from the same money. These developments in the community conservation area meant more care towards conservation efforts in Magodi chiefdom. “We realized that we further needed to lighten work for our members, so we decided to buy twelve heads of cattle and six rippers. Two heads of cattle plus a ripper were given to six VAGs (Village Area Groups) to maximize on minimum tillage and conservation practices”. A confident Alfred shared.

Before long, another 30,200 Kwacha was pumped into the two cooperatives from the same  World Bank carbon project. This money was meant for the re-enforcement of conservation efforts, promotion of agroforestry and the maximization of minimum tillage. After the implementation of the above programs, the two cooperatives decided to invest the remainder of the money in the poultry business to enhance even more self- sustainability.

In addition to their poultry businesses, the two cooperatives also have one tuck shop apiece, including hammer mill and transportation businesses. Other than that, COMACO gives the two cooperatives a reasonably sound commission as they take part in crop buying in the community on behalf of the organization. Since they run two hammer mills and one solar hammer mill which they acquired from the government on loan, they sell maize bran to the members of the community that keep pigs thereby leaving no stone unturned in income generation opportunities.

Alfred is not shy to say that the two cooperatives have reasonably fat bank accounts because they have realized that they are business entities and not platforms for handouts. “We are in business and not here solely for handouts like most cooperatives that only become active during fertilizer distribution. We run our business throughout the year, we are a company based in the rural countryside and our bank account is reasonably fat” boasts Alfred. “We are not an ordinary story, we are a story of change and hope,” said Alfred.

There have been notable increases in sightings of wildlife, including elephants

To cement the fact that the community in Magodi chiefdom is doing something right, the area has seen increased traffic of game animals as almost zero poaching is to be attained. Last December, the area saw eighteen elephants roaming around and countless impala has been spotted all over the chiefdom. Alfred says many opportunities await the two companies, as he fondly refers to the cooperatives where he is the secretary.

Last year, COMACO infused 12,400 Kwacha into the two cooperatives earned from conservation dividend funds, thanks to the communities compliance in all areas of conservation practices. This year (2019), the two cooperatives have already earned 14, 000 Kwacha as carbon credit payment from the World Bank because of high compliance scores.

Many plans lie ahead of the two companies in the rural setup. Alfred said the cooperatives aim to create job opportunities for youths who have completed school. Some of these youths will be trained in life skills that will give them income and develop the area. In addition to poultry rearing, Alfred revealed that plans are also underway to construct a training centre, build a guest house and establish a breeding centre for pigs, goats, and cattle and intentions to make the chiefdom an exemplary conservation-hub in Zambia.

Alfred advises other cooperatives to stop over-dependence on handouts from the government but be business-oriented, remain united and focused as it is what has made Eme COMACO and Kajilime cooperatives to flourish to self-sustainability. “We are not an ordinary story, we are a story of change and hope,” said Alfred.