Latest News from COMACO
US based retailer, Sharingourbest, will soon bring ‘It’s Wild!’ products to the USA. Despite the many hurdles they have had to overcome, the long awaited launch of ‘It’s Wild!’ products to the USA is now only weeks away, with the first container of Zambian products being shipped soon. The owners of Sharingourbest, Doug and Kath White, will launch a marketing campaign to introduce COMACO’s cooperatives of small-scale farmers to cooperative-owned retail stores in America. They will give American consumers a rare treat of being able to buy and consume Zambia’s finest honey and peanut products, whilst adding value to conservation for the farmers here in Zambia.
COMACO is launching a village chicken breeding facility to assist with COVID-19 related unemployment and to also reduce the threat of poaching. The residents of Mnkhanya, Nsefu, Kakumbi, and Jumbe Chiefdoms, in the Mfuwe tourism area, will soon be benefiting from two village chicken breeding facilities. This initiative will assist people who have lost their jobs as a result of the downturn of the local tourism industry due to the worldwide pandemic. Over 600 breeding hens will produce thousands of 3-week old chicks that will be distributed for free to help recipients start their own flocks, both for sale and for home consumption. Cooperative leaders have undergone training to become ‘Trainers of Trainers’ to teach local recipients to learn about poultry husbandry. This initiative was made possible by a donation from Elephant Cooperation.
Seventeen years ago, COMACO began an initiative to tackle the problems of wildlife poaching in and around the Luangwa Valley by addressing the key issues – poverty and hunger. Instead of arresting poachers, COMACO gives them the opportunity to transform their lives by surrendering their wire snares and firearms in exchange for training in carpentry, masonry, beekeeping, and conservation agriculture, along with other alternative livelihood skills. Today they are proud to say that their efforts to reverse these problems have begun to pay off, with fewer poachers and a growing wildlife population. Another result is the first ‘Transformed Poacher Association’ for the Luangwa Valley. Its goal is to legitimise the 1,723 ex-poachers in the eyes of the government and the public with a body that voices their solutions for wildlife; lobbies for their positive role in wildlife conservation and nature-based markets; and, works toward a poacher-free future in Luangwa Valley.
You can read more news articles and updates from COMACO in their September Newsletter and on their Facebook Page