Latest News From COMACO

23 July 2021 by CC Zambia in Environment, News

Chief Mulendema welcomes COMACO

Replicating a model like COMACO takes time, learning from mistakes, they have trained and built up staff numbers, put in infrastructures, engaged with farmers and scaled up their project to grow markets. Then they assess – is the model achieving its intended goal: reducing rural poverty in ways that keep forests and wildlife safe on a scale large enough to protect an ecosystem? If the answer is yes, then they think about replicating their model in other areas.

After 18 years they are now taking their model to entirely new districts around Kafue National Park, in Mumbwa and Itezhi-tezhi. These districts were chosen because of their high level of rural poverty and food insecurity which in turn threatens Zambia’s largest national park’s biodiversity, from poaching and deforestation.

“With our market reach and growing value for the It’s Wild! brand built around farmers and conservation, we have begun working with all 13 new chiefdoms in these districts to recruit another 20,000 small-scale farmers into the COMACO approach.”

For their replication to succeed, it was vital to have support from local traditional leadership. His Royal Highness, Chief Mulendema, extended his friendship to COMACO warmheartedly by offering them land to build their new manufacturing hub. He explained:

“We work closely with COMACO because there is a lot of deforestation here in Mumbwa, especially in my chiefdom. I have made a decree that there should be no charcoal-making in my chiefdom. This will be an uphill battle because it is a main source of income and many believe there is no alternative. I know that with the help of COMACO this will happen. We are excited about the new hub. It will create self-employment for many of our farmers. We struggle with markets and being able to sell our products. I can say that we are ready to learn and bring development to the area that will help in protecting the environment. We welcome COMACO.”

Establishing new home for the Mumbwa Hub

Chief Mulendema’s offer to establish their new manufacturing hub in his communal area is a first for COMACO. They will be close to farmers and so will be able to work together to combine solutions for local livelihoods and the surrounding environment. They have started construction, taking measures to leave trees untouched, showing how commerce and conservation can grow together. The surrounding villages are seeking their commitment to make this happen.

The hub is located on a 2.1 hecture plot, on the main road to Kafue National Park, about 15km from Mumbwa town. It will have a 4,000 ton capacity warehouse, with a grading/deshelling/sorting line facility, along with facilities for other processing lines, staff offices and a meeting room. It will be a location for both manufacturing and a place where neighbouring farmers and traditional leaders can come together to visit and to learn.

New Green Markets shops in Mumbwa

As part of their replication process, they will be giving the residents of Mumbwa a taste of their ‘It’s Wild!’ products, showcasing healthy, natural nutrition at an affordable price. They will be doing this by introducing two new Green Market Shops. Through these shops, they can communicate the role that COMACO plays in supporting local farmers, bringing extra value to their conservation efforts, both in the soil for restoring nutrients and to the land for sustainable forests and wildlife. This is being done with help from Musika and Irish Aid.

“We wanted the shops to be located where consumers could easily access them to learn about COMACO and taste our products. To do this, we decided to convert old shipping containers into attractive shops that could be easily and quickly placed. One is located in town and the other near the entrance to the Kafue National Park where buses stop in route from western parts of the country to Lusaka. Slowly but surely, through our It’s Wild! products, we’re getting the message across that conservation needs everyone’s help, and buying a product is one way to tell the farmer to keep conserving.”

13 Chiefdoms sign up for Carbon Markets

Many of Mumbwa’s and Itezi-tezhi’s forests have already disappeared and COMACO know that they are working against time. These local forests have been lost to charcoal burning and the illegal harvesing of timber for the wider market. This is the main reason COMACO decided to replicate their model in these districts.

It was thought that if these traditional rulers could help unify their communities to abandon the practices that are causing so much destruction, then their market could reinforce their efforts to make changes happen. They explained and presented their approach to all 13 traditional leaders who represent both districts and sought their views over the destruction that had already taken place in their chiefdoms. They then discussed ideas to gauge how they could all work together, such as by the ‘carbon market’, made available through the new Forestry Act.

COMACO works closely with the Forestry Department. They bridge technical and market needs for communities to make markets possible. This needs commitment from every local farmer to follow practices that reduce dependency on charcoal or the need to clear forests for more farmland. This is a tall order, but they have seen it work when the right skills and incentives are applied.

After a three week tour by two carbon expert COMACO teams, who visited each traditional leader, all 13 signed pledges to do everything possible to lead their communities to a better future, with conservation and the markets that come with it. The meetings represented a turning point. Although this is only the first step, it is a critically important one that allows COMACO to move forward with formal documentation for putting these pledges and agreements into a plan of action. This process has now started and they are finding out about various technical information on the carbon stocks and historical rates of deforestation to set the bar for what must be achieved in the coming three years.

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