case studies undp: community markets for conservation (comaco), zambia

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: COMMUNITY MARKETS FOR CONSERVATION (COMACO), Zambia

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Zambia

COMMUNITY MARKETS FORCONSERVATION (COMACO)

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that woor people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practitionthemselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succto scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Yearsthe Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Par

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude Community Markets or Conservation (COMACO), and in particular the guidance ainputs o Dale Lewis, Ruth Nabuyanda, and Japhet Seulu. All photo credits courtesy o COMACO. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factboand Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Community Markets or Conservation (COMACO), Zambia. Equator Initiative Case Stu

Series. New York, NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858


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PROJECT SUMMARYZambias Luangwa Valley is the setting or a pioneeringinitiative that is transorming the local economy and reducinghuman pressures wildlie. Led by the Wildlie ConservationSociety, Community Markets or Conservation (COMACO)has brought about substantial livelihoods and conservationbenets through a producer group model o collectivelearning, reaching more than 40,000 arming householdswith training in conservation arming techniques.

Farmers are invited to become COMACO members in returnor adopting a package o eco-agriculture and organic

arming techniques that both reduce the environmentalimpact o arming and drastically improve agricultural yields.COMACO purchases arm commodities through a networko depots and collection centres, alleviating transport costsand guaranteeing a premium or organic produce throughthe payment o an annual dividend to member armers.The initiative has been particularly successul in convertingpoachers to armers.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2008

FOUNDED: 2003

LOCATION: Luangwa Valley, Zambia

BENEFICIARIES: more than 40,000 rural households

BIODIVERSITY: North and South Luangwa National Parks

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COMMUNITY MARKETS FORCONSERVATION (COMACO)Zambia

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Biodiversity Impacts 8

Socioeconomic Impacts 9

Policy Impacts 12

Sustainability 13

Replication 14

Partners 14


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Community Markets or Conservation (COMACO) promotesncome generation, biodiversity conservation, and ood security in

ambias Luangwa Valley. The organization links more than 40,000ural households with lucrative and sustainable livelihood options,ncourages methods or improving agricultural outputs through

conservation arming, and provides access to markets.

Contrasting ecological wealth and economic poverty

he Luangwa Valley represents a critical destination or tourism inambia, attracting great international interest or its large mammalopulations and sprawling wildlands. Annually, over 20,000 tourists

isit its two main parks, North and South Luangwa National Parks,enerating over USD 15 million in tourism revenues. These parks

rovide a relatively sae environment or over twenty large mammalpecies, including elephant, lion and wild dog. Surrounding these

arks are community lands with human densities varying rom threeo more than ty people per km2, stretching rom the valley ooro surrounding plateau areas that constitute the valleys watershed.

Average annual household income or these communities in 2004was below USD 100 in all but one area, and a signicant portion

uered rom chronic ood shortages.

Poverty, low yields and deorestation: a vicious cycle

Farming is the main livelihood activity or Luangwa Valleys residconcentrated in alluvial soils along tributaries o the Luangwa RMaize is the staple crop, although a variety o grains, vegeta

and ruits are grown. Trypanosomiasis has restricted cattle reawhile reliance on hand tillage largely restricts household plot

to smallholder status. Traditional agricultural practices incluclearing and tree coppicing are common, with cut wood b

burned or uel. Fallowing typically occurs at our to ten-year inteIn attempts to spur economic development in rural Zambia, lascale contract arming or out-grower schemes have prom

household planting o cotton and tobacco. While these schehave been successul in brining capital to household producers,

have also contributed to Zambias high rate o deorestation. Witchemical ertilizers, armers have begun changing plots every

to three years, signicantly increasing the amount o cleared Despite its small size, Zambia is second in Arica and th inworld in terms o highest absolute annual loss o orest area.

Deorestation and intensive arming have in turn led to decre

in agricultural productivity. Combined with periods o poor rai

Background and Context

Table 1: Average household annual incomes or residents o Luangwa valley foor and plateauChies Area Year surveyed Households % ood secure Average income (USD)

Valley areas (six chiedoms) 2001 1,065 34 $76.00

Chie Chikomeni, plateau 2004 192 42.9 $83.50

Chie Zumwanda, plateau 2004 517 63.1 $88.00

Chie Mwasemphangwe, plateau 2004 460 60.4 $137.70

Chie Magodi, plateau 2004 1,028 42.8 $90.00

ource: COMACO.


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armers overreliance on non-ood crops has let household incomesusceptible to commodity market uctuations, and has decreasedousehold ood security. Surveys have shown that when they are

ood insecure, more than hal o armers in the Luangwa Valley turno poaching, setting wire snares or wildlie. A small percentage o

esidents are proessional poachers, using locally made guns to huntvariety o species. Although currently less common, elephants and

hinos were oten targeted as a commercial activity by organized

roups rom outside the Valley. This has decimated wildlie numbersn the region. Other coping mechanisms or periods o drought

nclude shing and timber-elling or charcoal production.

ntroduction o sustainable agriculture

hese conditions were extensively surveyed by a team o researchersed by the Wildlie Conservation Society (WCS). They identied low

ousehold incomes and widespread ood insecurity as responsibleor the high level o poaching and snaring. In 2003, WCS introducedproducer group model or local armers, using market incentives to

ncourage sustainable agricultural practices. Since then, COMACOsxtension ofcers have trained more than 40,000 armers in

onservation arming techniques, which include dry-season landreparation using no or minimal tillage; repeated use o small basins

or planting and or soil amendments such as compost; using cropesidues to suppress weed growth, return nutrients to the soil, andelp retain moisture, rather than burning them; and rotating and

nter-planting crops with nitrogen-xing species. These practicesmprove agricultural yields and reduce the demand or land, thereby

limiting agricultural drivers o deorestation. Farmers that athese practices are certied by COMACO, and are typically abmove rom household ood decits to ood surpluses within tw

three years.

By complying with these practices, armers are also assured lterm trade benets with COMACO. To drive this partnership,

surplus purchased by COMACO is manuactured and sold as va

added processed products, or sold to high-paying commomarkets. COMACO generates eco-riendly products (under the b

name Its Wild!) ranging rom rice to peanut butter, cultivwithout pesticides or ertilizers. These products are catere

ecotourism visitors to South Luangwa National Park, creatidirect link between the one-acre armer and the best possible

market to reward good arming and land use practices. Incenor compliance have been incorporated within this structure, ini

in the orm o a price premium or COMACO-certied armers sell to the organisation. This system has been changed, howeva dividend that is paid to all producer groups that are certie

compliant, whether they sell to COMACO or another buyer.

COMACO operates as a legally registered limited-by-guaracompany and unctions both as an agro-ood processing com

and as a commodity trader. By providing this dual role, COMACObeen able to scale up its market reach to a large enough numbarmers living in Luangwa Valley to have a landscape-scale im

on both conservation and livelihoods.


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Key Activities and Innovations

he individual armer, whether man or woman, is COMACOs startingpoint or inuencing behaviour and aecting positive change or

onservation and amily well-being. The process o involvement

onsists o producer groups, typically made up o about 15 members,which all COMACO-registered armers are required to join. Larger

producer group cooperatives represent all o the producer groupsor a given chiedom.

Peer-to-peer learning, rooted in local capacity

COMACO uses a highly adaptive armer extension model to mobilizearge numbers o unskilled armers, some o whom would otherwise

epend on wildlie snaring and hunting, to learn improved armingmethods with support in the orm o seed supplies and on-going

raining and eld demonstrations. The goal is to enable the armerso produce a surplus, typically within two to three years. This processs acilitated by peer support through the producer group model.

Also supporting this process is a team o salaried extension workersnd a much larger orce o lead armers: local COMACO armers

elected or their skills and who volunteer their services in trainingothers. In exchange, these lead armers earn a commission rom

he commodities sold to COMACO by the armers they help train.he model ocuses on ood-based commodities, including maize,oybeans, groundnuts, millet, and a wide range o bean varieties, as

well as honey.

COMACO relies heavily on its relations with communities andraditional rulers in the various chiedoms o the Luangwa Valley.

When entering an area, extension ofcers seek assistance rom theillage headman to identiy those households in greatest need, as

well as those most responsible or resource degradation, such as

proessional poachers or charcoal makers. These assessments areeried via survey, and then selected households are encouraged

o participate. In practice, more households in a new area typicallyequest participation than can be trained in a single season. The

models goal is that, within a maximum o our years, participants will

be able to support household ood needs independently throincreased yields rom conservation arming and improved inc

through market access.

Bringing market access to marginalized armers

Members o these producer groups bring their surplus to on

COMACOs 57 local trading depots, located within the armcommunity, to sell directly to COMACO. The transaction

transparent exercise: prices are posted, weighing scales vweights, and cash is paid in ull in most cases. Once the depots

enough bulk commodities, a regional conservation trading ceoperated by COMACO, dispatches a truck to the depot or collec

The commodities are then processed at the conservation tra

centre and moved on to markets. The manuacturing process re


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n high-quality, organic ood-processed products, packaged andranded attractively to compete with more established brands in

etail stores throughout Zambia. COMACOs marketing strengths

re the quality o the product and the human stories behindhese goods. Its Wild! products are ound at Muwe International

Airport, in the regions largest settlement, in outlying towns, and inupermarkets in Zambias capital, Lusaka.

ncentivizing conservation arming

he added value rom this marketing approach provides a sufcientales margin to sustain a range o incentives to keep armers

ompliant to the sustainable arming practices that help buildealthy soils and reduce the need to clear more trees. Incentives or

ompliance were initially provided through higher prices or certiedarmers versus non-certied armers. Using this pricing structure

s the sole mechanism to maintain compliance was ound to benadequate, however. During its early growth, COMACO oten lackedhe capital needed or purchases at the higher prices at the precise

me when the armers needed to sell, resulting in armer rustration,educed compliance, and increased sales to alternative buyers. In

010, in place o this system, COMACO introduced a conservationividend mechanism to reward all producer groups that are certied

s compliant, whether they sell to COMACO or another buyer. Thisividend is not a subsidy but rather a true dividend: an incentive

eturned to members that varies rom year to year. Payment takes

he orm o cash, seed inputs, and arm implements. The dividends disbursed just beore the beginning o the wet season (known

ocally as the hungry season) when household ood and nancialeserves are typically low and new crops are about to be planted.

n 2010, the dividend included one or more o the ollowing,epending on local conditions: treadle pumps, beehives, and hoes.he dividend mechanism is designed to promote conservation

arming compliance and the use o new technologies and, to a lesserxtent, to smooth household ood availability. From a business

erspective, the dividend system allows the incentive to be giventer the production and sale o value-added products as opposed

o at the time o purchase o raw materials. The approach representsmajor adaptive management adjustment.

Organization growth and monitoring

he process has developed by iterations every year, and the projectas seen a continued growth o armer members seeking access

o these skills and markets. The current number o registeredarmer members in the COMACO program is 32,454. The current

rend suggests an annual member growth rate o about 20%. Asn extreme response to non-compliance, COMACO enorces tradeanctions on communities who renege on their commitment to

bandon poaching or snaring by either denying dividend paymentsr not bringing markets and extension services to their area.

Keeping track o this organization and key livelihood indicators o itsarticipating armers and their amilies is a major task or COMACO.

xtensive socioeconomic and ecological monitoring is carried outy COMACO sta and in tandem with external researchers. From

ts inception in 2003, enormous progress in armer recruitment,

training, group ormation, and arming results have been witneWhile still recruiting armers with annual amily incomes othan USD 100 and with ood supplies inadequate to reach the

harvest, many o those who are members and now supporteCOMACOs trade benets have emerged with livelihoods that o

a better uture or both amily members and the natural resouthey live alongside.


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Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

Positive biodiversity impacts have been observed throughout theegion in which COMACO works, benetting the ora and auna ohe Luangwa Valley. These impacts have been achieved through

various channels, resulting rom dierent aspects o COMACOswork, and have been measured by the organisations sta during

erial monitoring exercises.

Conserving orest cover

Reducing rates o deorestation in the valley has been a primary

im or COMACOs environmental work. This has been successullychieved through various means. Oering armers nancial

ncentives or growing various ood crops has resulted in a reductionn cotton growing. Cotton growing typically leads to large losses

n tree cover as land is cleared or cultivation. Increased cropdiversication o legumes o up to 30% and improved crop rotationhas allowed or the replenishment o soil nitrogen, meanwhile,

esulting in shorter allow periods and urther reducing the need ormallholder armers to cut trees.

Tree cover has also improved thanks to the reduced dependency

on destructive livelihood practices, such as charcoal making, whichaw trees cut or burning. In place o these high-impact income-

generating activities, COMACO has encouraged the adoption oenvironmentally-riendly bee hives or small-scale apiculture. Todate, over 7,000 bar hives and 12,000 log hives have been made by

COMACO armers. These hive varieties reduce the practice o cuttingrees or their wild honey, which in turn oers an alternative to

harcoal-making.

Protecting the valleys wildlie

n addition to reducing habitat loss, COMACO has attempted to

onserve wildlie by reducing illegal snaring and poaching with guns.

To date, more than 61,000 wire snares and 1,467 guns have

turned in by participants. Training o poachers in alternative cabegan as a pilot program in 2001, preceding the implementao COMACOs market components, and has continued as a ag

programme or the organisation in Luangwa Valley: more thanindividuals have completed the program to date.

Positive results rom reduced poaching were observed through a

surveys undertaken by COMACO sta in conjunction with ouresearchers between 1999 and 2008. Comparing data rom COMACO aerial wildlie surveys in 1999 and 2002 against re

rom surveys perormed on the same ight transects in 20062008 showed that populations o most species were either stab

increasing. The degree o the positive change suggests that redhunting pressure likely contributed to redistribution o animals


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nto game management areas. Previous reports suggested thateveral large-bodied ungulates were in decline rom 1979 to 1996.

Because these species are desirable targets or poaching and areparticularly sensitive to it, the stability o eland, hartebeest, kudu,

oan, waterbuck, wildebeest, and zebra populations is noteworthy.Stability o the elephant population is also o special importance,given the recent local history and ocus or regional tourism.

The relative impacts o COMACOs poacher transormation program,

nare removal, improvements in the efcacy o the Zambia WildlieAuthority (ZAWA), and other anti-poaching eorts are unclear.Social surveys o proessional poachers indicate that multiple

arrests and convictions are insufcient to deter most rom returningo poaching.) However, independent evidence rom ZAWAs patrol

eports shows that despite seasonal and yearly uctuations, anoverall downward trend in snares recovered rom national parks and

game management areas was observed by consistent patrolling

eorts over time. These ndings suggest that COMACOs snareemoval provided benets to wildlie in the areas in which its

participants live.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

Alongside impressive ecological benets, COMACO has hadubstantial measurable impacts on the social and economic welare

o the valleys arming households. These impacts have been seen

primarily through increased household incomes rom sellingcommodities to COMACO and improved household ood security

due to improved access to seed supplies and agricultural practCOMACOs model has also acted as a vehicle or other positive s

impacts, by acilitating access to health advice, and reinoimportant socio-cultural institutions.

Combating hunger and income poverty

The typical armer who joins COMACO produces a net decood the household runs out o ood beore the next ha

9

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

Eland Elephan t Har tebeest Kudu Puku Roan Waterbuc k Wildebeest Zebra

Pre -C OM AC O C OM AC O

Figure 1: Comparison o wildlie populations rom aerial surveys perormed in 1999 and 2002 (pre-COMACO) versus 2006 and

2008 (COMACO). Variance weighted averages are listed.

Source: Lewis, D., et al. 2011.


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and has little or limited access to markets. A pre-COMACOousehold livelihood baseline survey or Luangwa Valley residents

n 2000 revealed annual household incomes averaged USD 79 andepending on rainall, as many as 60% o valley residents were not

ood secure, orcing many to rely on wildlie snaring to help meet theirood shortalls. Current household income data shows households

hat have transitioned out o a ood decit to a ood surplus statushanks to implementing COMACO conservation arming practices

ow earn an annual average o approximately USD 220, a sizeablencrease compared to 2000 average levels. The combined value oncome and increased household ood production represents a net

nnual household income o approximately USD 300 or the averageCOMACO-certied arming household.

COMACO undertakes data collection at each depot to record theame o the armers selling to the organisation. Approximately

2% o registered armers are women. On average, over 10,000armers sell their surplus commodities to COMACO each year, and

ver 90% are COMACO-registered armers. The 10,585 armers whoold to COMACO in 2010 represented about 30% o total COMACO

members, however, suggesting that the remaining 70% are still inhe process o moving rom a net ood decit into a surplus.

n 2010, armers received approximately 3.74 billion ZambianKwacha (ZMK), or ZMK 387,530 per individual (USD 86). This

epresented around 40% o a amilys total annual income; the actualercentage could be considerably higher when considering both

usbands and wives or individual households can sell their cropseparately to COMACO. Incomes rom selling commodities are alsooosted thanks to COMACOs policy o buying arm produce through

ollection depots. Through its 57 depots and various transportssets, COMACO is in most cases able to collect armer commodities

s a service, which saves armers rom having to bear these costs. In

ome rural areas where COMACO does not operate, these transportosts can represent as much as 20% o the value o the commodity.

Pricing incentives and dividend distribution oered by COMhas greatly increased armer interest in growing the selected

crops that COMACO buys and in most cases turns into value-adproducts, while improved agricultural productivity has alloweincreased crop yields and crop diversication, leading to greater

security and higher incomes. COMACO armers are able to gene

10

Table 2: Numbers o households growing grain or cassava in 2000 compared to 2009 or valley areas in COMACO East

cassava maize millet rice sorghum

Year: 2000; 1059 sampled (random, pre-COMACO)

Chiunda 0 337 50 76

Chikwa 4 103 37 8

Lower Lumimba 0 242 0 26

Upper Lumimba 1 300 7 33

Totals: 5 982 94 143

%: 0.4% 92.7% 8.9% 13.5% 15.Year: 2009; 3202 sampled (COMACO armers)

Chiunda 76 443 49 319

Chikwa 61 783 185 650

Lower Lumimba 86 208 0 198

Upper Lumimba 58 1428 27 1040

Totals: 281 2862 261 2207

%: 8.9% 89.4% 8.2% 68.9% 15.

Source: COMACO.


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ar higher incomes rom household arms. In 2010, armers couldmake ZMK 1,040,000 rom growing rice on a plot measuring 50m

y 50m, representing a 300% increase rom pre-COMACO prices. The

ame plot size would earn armers ZMK 684,000 or groundnuts, a70% increase; ZMK 324,000 rom soy beans, a 180% increase; and

MK 890,000 rom beans, or a 200% increase.

Crop diversifcation or ood security and resilience

roduction o rice has increased by 300%, groundnuts by 270% and

oybeans by 180%. The number o rice growers has increased ve-old, which correlates with the three-old increase in commodity

rice since 2000, while cassava growers have increased over ten-old.Most importantly, the number o dierent ood crops contributing

o income has increased rom 10 to 16. The increase in crop numbers attributed to the introduction o three additional legumes sugar

eans, soybeans and cowpeas to improve soil quality. This greateriversication o household ood crops has allowed or greater oodecurity and resilience in the ace o unpredictable weather patterns.

ince severe ooding in 2007, additional emphasis has been placedn crops able to withstand or mitigate eects o ooding and

rought such as cassava and sweet potatoes. In this way, the modeliers rom out-grower schemes, which are typically highly ocused

n single crops.

Data rom various sources including interviews, independent

tudies, and comparison o demonstration and control plotsupport the positive impact COMACO is having on improving arm

ields. Contributing to this success are three major actors: marketncentives, seed inputs provided on a seed-recovery loan basis, and

ear-round extension support.

Market and non-market incentives:The market incentive model has

een improved by iterations. In 2010, 27,673 COMACO ID cards weressued to registered armers. These ID cards were used to reward

armers compliant with COMACO conservation arming techniqueswith slightly higher commodity prices compared to non-COMACO

armers at collection depots. 2010 marked the rst year in whichCOMACO also conducted a compliance inspection and scoredarmers according to a list o criteria. The highest scoring producer

roups were rewarded with a conservation dividend in place o therice premium on commodities.

Another incentive or compliance currently under consideration

s to provide school ee loans to amilies who are compliant withonservation arming and have a good track record o selling

ommodities to COMACO. Repayment would be in the orm o cropsold to COMACO at harvest time.

mprove seed availability: Seed availability and seed diversicationre major constraints to achieving ood security or small-scale

armers living in remote areas o Luangwa Valley. COMACO hasworked to overcome these challenges. The organisation contributes

n annual 150-250 tons o seeds to its armers; approximately hal o

his amount comes rom COMACOs own revolving supply o seedsecovered rom its loan-receiving armers.

Farmer-to-armer extension: Complementing this support community-based armer extension system that builds on the support o over 639 lead armers and 57 certicate or diplo

holding salaried extension sta members who live locally. the use o 225 demonstration training sites, on-going eld

and visual aids, armers are taught the ollowing techniqueconservation arming:

home-based ertilizer-making with compost and bio-char, mulching,

crop thinning, weeding techniques,

crop rotation, minimal or zero-tillage techniques,

pot-holing, ploughing techniques to remove hard-pan and increase

penetration, inter-cropping with agroorestry, water management, and

planting densities.

Use o organic ertilizers, including bio-char

For the 2009-2010 arming season, based on a sample o 17armers, 81.7% o COMACO armers complied with key elemo the conservation arming approach, including the use o ho

made compost or bio-char ertilizer to grow their primary staple, maize. The increase in yields compared to plots in w

conservation arming or composting was not used varies romto over 200%. The approaches advocated by COMACO also decre

dependence on expensive inputs such as chemical ertilherbicides, and pesticides. This represents a major household sao between 10-20% o total annual income.

Bio-char in particular has been an important conservation arm

technique introduced by COMACO. Its potential or casequestration and increasing agricultural yields makes it an attra

investment rom an environmental and economic perspecComparison o COMACO and non-COMACO armers by CoUniversity (USA) showed that COMACO armers had more carbo

their soils on average than their counterparts.

Collective learning through producer groups

An important strategy employed by COMACO in its work has its producer group model. All COMACO-registered armers

required to be members o a producer group. These groupssubsequently organized into producer group cooperatives, provenvironments or collaborative learning and training. By the en

2010, all o the producer group cooperatives on the eastern sidLuangwa Valley that had received training were legally registe

during 2011, those on the western side are undergoing the sprocess.

As well as being vehicles or sustainable agricultural extenproducer groups have been used to provide inormation on h

to arming parents. Meetings o producer groups act as peer o


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n which members discuss topics such as amily planning, hygiene,

nd reproductive health alongside sustainable arming practices.hese discussions are acilitated by the use o Better Lie Books,onsisting o 21 loose pages o illustrated lessons covering a range

livelihood skills, including arming practices, ertilizer-making,oultry rearing, and bee-keeping, as well as hygiene and amily

ealth topics. The books promote better parenting practices andncourage participation o girls in school.

Empowering women and strengthening institutions

n emphasis on women 52% o registered armers are emale a positive aspect o the model, given cultural gender dierences

nd the growing number o households headed by single women.n 1992, 18.7% o rural households were headed by women, versus

5.4% in 2007 (Zambia Demographic Health Survey, Centraltatistical Ofce.)

s membership o COMACO has grown, producer group cooperativesave engaged a wider spectrum o Luangwa Valley communities.

n particular, traditional village rulers and Community Resourceoards have been involved in supporting COMACOs work. The

atter are community-based organizations overseen by the ZambiaWildlie Authority (ZAWA) to promote participatory management o

atural resources by communities. This engagement o important

ommunity institutions has underpinned sustainable resourceecisions taken in many cases. For instance, community leaders

ave taken an active role in convincing poachers to lay down theiruns. In recent years, chies and community leaders have assisted

with the identication and persuasion o hundreds o poachers tondertake training provided by COMACO.

hie Mwasemphangwe o Chipata District, meanwhile, has banned

he commercial sale o charcoal in her area because there are bettervelihood alternatives now oered by COMACO. In another case,hie Nyalugwe has resettled over 100 amilies rom an area where

harcoal making had become a major source o livelihoods to anrea where these amilies are able to register as COMACO armers.everal chies in Serenje District have rejected attempts by investors

o create large tobacco arms in their areas, instead promotingOMACOs approach or local armers.

illage institutions have also acted as mediators in cases o

widespread poaching. Chie Tembwes area was threatened with aOMACO trade sanction due to high levels o poaching reported by

he Zambia Wildlie Authority. A COMACO representative travelled

o meet with local leaders to explain COMACOs policy; these leaderswere able to convene public meetings and poaching levels were

ubsequently dramatically reduced.

POLICY IMPACTS

s COMACO has become better established in the Luangwa Valleyrea, opportunities or collaboration with district and provincialuthorities have increasingly emerged. This has led to COMACO

aving a substantial impact on conservation policy in Zambiasastern Province.

Collaboration with government authorities

District and provincial authorities eorts to address growenvironmental concerns in the province have helped to b

partnerships with COMACO and the communities it works witsteering committee headed by the Provinces Permanent Secre

is currently leading these eorts and has targeted COMvillages as case studies where the benets o collaboration ca

demonstrated. One such example o collaboration is in LundaziNyimba districts, where District Forestry ofcers have worked COMACO and selected communities to support combined strate

to reduce charcoal-making.

Zambia Wildlie Authority (ZAWA) routinely meets with COMsta to discuss their joint conservation initiatives. One are

collaboration has been in working with arming communitiereduce human-wildlie conict, teaching methods such as blaselephants with chilli smoke to protect crops. ZAWA also atta

ofcers to COMACO to help acilitate certain components opoacher transormation program, in which poachers identie

communities learn and adopt alternative livelihoods with masupport rom COMACO.

Collaboration with district and provincial authorities is seen as kthe sustained success o conservation eorts in the Luangwa Va

District authorities in Chama have worked closely with COMto design a new Community Park: a protected area that w

bring benets to the surrounding communities, including acceCOMACO markets. This model has also been proposed with rela

to Zambias status as a pilot country or REDD+ activities: RErelated income could be used to create protected carbon pmanaged by participating communities that have been sensit

to conservation through engagement with COMACO.

Supporting the COMACO model: scaling-up

A major challenge or COMACO is to maintain small-scale armingame management areas, but reduce the risk o small-scale armbecoming larger commercial arms, which would pose a gre

threat to wildlie habitats. As COMACO continues to target reward small-scale armers with best practices and markets, ZA

could also reward the same armers with incentives to maintain plots within a limited maximum size to receive a share o wil

revenues. This would give armers two income streams, rom armand wildlie, both tied to conservation.

There is much national attention being paid to conservaarming as a low-cost solution to higher arm yields and impro

soil management in Zambia. COMACO is oten reerred to success story or its wide-spread adoption o conservation arm

compared to other areas o the country where adoption levelrelatively low. The presence o markets that reward complian

seen as the key eature in the COMACO model.


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13

Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYCOMACOs business model has been widely documented as a case

tudy or sustainable agricultural enterprises. While the projectnitially relied on nancial and technical support rom its partner

rganisations, and in particular Wildlie Conservation Society, itsconomic and social strengths have enabled the organisation toecome increasingly less reliant on external support over time.

Financial sustainability

COMACO aims to become nancially sel-supporting. The tactical

lan to achieve this has been to increase the scale o operations

o meet required thresholds or contracts o value-added productsnd commodities in larger urban and export markets. Data or

onservation trading centres that are generating value-addedroducts show progress toward a break-even point, with the

ercentage o sales revenue to total operating expenses increasingrom 31% to 79% between 2008 and 2010. These data include

dministrative costs o expenses o the distribution centres.Contract data also show that COMACO is providing rural households

with access to high-value urban and international markets. Otherttempts to connect rural communities with these markets uch as the Luangwa Integrated Resource Development Project

have not achieved a great deal o success. The lack o road andail inrastructure in the valley makes such access difcult, and no

ther large-scale ood-processing equipment exists in the areao provide a comparable value chain. The largest contributions to

otal sales are made up o items requiring relatively little processing,uch as rice and ground maize our (used to make the staple dish,shima.) Honey has the highest prot margin; bee-keeping is heavily

romoted or this reason as well as or its ecosystem benets.

Key interventions underpinning long-term success

rocessing standards are maintained at a high level, ensuring thatCOMACO-produced goods can reach high quality markets. In 2005,

acility improvements and intensive sta training in hygiene, sa

and quality control allowed COMACO to obtain Hazard Anaand Critical Control Points (HACCP) certication. COMACO prod

consistently pass quality and saety testing at the UniversitZambias ood laboratory. These steps are essential to COMA

certication as a vendor or large-volume contracts o high-enprotein supplements with the World Food Program and CatRelie Services, as well as sales to regional hospitals, schools,

commercial markets.

External support has helped in improving the quality o prodAdditional research has decreased breakage o rice and impr

packaging o peanut butter to improve quality and shel lie. T

changes have enhanced COMACOs ability to negotiate contwith urban supermarkets. Retail sales are now complemente

sales on the Zambian Agriculture Commodities Exchange.

Partner organisations have also helped to acilitate the developmo additional products. Training o a ood technologist and addit

extrusion equipment donated by General Mills has enabled COMto process goods such as ood bars and poultry eeds. Diversica

has proven difcult because o limitations in water and elecinrastructure, however.

Business development; obstacles to growth

COMACO has been able to expand signicantly in recent yNew conservation trading centres in Serenje and Chinsali bec

operational in 2010. In addition to increasing scale, the growth inumber o these centres has allowed or specialization; or examextrusion processing is perormed at Lundazi. The costs associ

with expansion are sizeable investments. As o March 31 2COMACOs capital expenditure grants totalled ZKW 3,532,727

(approximately USD 740,000 at then-current exchange ratesincrease o ZKW 98,271,408 (approximately $21,000 USD) ove

previous year. COMACOs expansion was made possible by suprom several sources, most notably the Royal Norwegian Embas


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Table 3: COMACO member growth, 2009-2010

Commodity Trading Centre YearNumber o registered

armersYear

Number o registered

armersProducer Groups

2010/2011

(projected)

Lundazi 2009 6,592 2010 6,778 500 12,000

Chama 2009 4,298 2010 6,178 408 8,000

Muwe 2009 7,048 2010 7,857 511 12,500

Nyimba 2009 5,763 2010 5,974 274 11,000

Serenje 2009 1,889 2010 2,279 106 5,000

Chinsali 2009 2,083 2010 3,388 89 5,000

Total 27,637 32,454 1888 53,500

ource: COMACO.

1414

nrastructure deciencies remain a challenge to continued long-

erm business expansion as well as product diversication, however.n example o these limitations comes rom a conservation tradingentre established at Feira. Although this was desirable rom a

onservation perspective because o its proximity to the Lowerambezi National Park, the centre shited to another acility at

yimba in 2009 due to high transportation costs, restricted varieties local commodities, and lack o reliable water and electricity.

yimba has more reliable utilities and direct access to the majoraved highway running to Lusaka, although it required substantial

nvestment in 20082009 to accommodate the new unctions and

cale.

he key strength o the COMACO model is its highly adaptiveature. Beginning on a small scale in 2003 with the development o

producer group organization, COMACO is currently restructuringnto a stand-alone business entity and continues to evolve throughn iterative, adaptive process. For example, ood relie rom the

World Food Program initially assisted the transition o ood-insecureouseholds to the use o conservation arming. Over time this

emporary ood aid was phased out, initially resulting in decreasedood security or some participating households. Food aid is no longer

ssociated with the model, yet numbers o participating householdsave continued to rise steadily as COMACO has expanded its armer

raining and organization, demonstrating that its sustained impact

was not contingent on external assistance.

REPLICATION

Scaling-out

OMACO has demonstrated an impressive rate o internal replication

nce its inception, increasing to a total o over 30,000 registered

armers by 2010. The table below shows the rate o increase between009 and 2010 or COMACOs conservation trading centres androducer groups, and gives projected gures or 2011. The overall

rowth rate o registered armers rom 2009-2010 is over 17%.

his expansion has been possible through the high level o investment

n establishing new conservation trading centres and depots, andhe adaptability o COMACOs peer-to-peer learning model. In

pursuit o its economic goals, the organisation continues to exp

and in 2011 has begun to oer market benets to participantthe western plateau. Expansion is intended to provide protectio

the core national parks on all sides.

PARTNERS

Wildlie Conservation Society

General Mills

World Food Programme

Zambia Wildlie Authority

Zambias National Farmers Union

Government o the Republic o Zambia

Cornell University

CARE International

UNDP Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program

recipient, 2008

UC Berkeley Haas School o Business

Catholic Relie Services

Royal Norwegian Embassy


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Equator Initiative

Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10017Tel: +1 646 781-4023www.equatorinitiative.org

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change onnecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

All rights reserved

FURTHER REFERENCE

COMACO website: itswild.org

Lewis, D., Bell, S. D., Fayc, J. et al. 2011. Community Markets or Conservation (COMACO) links biodiversity conservation with sustain

improvements in livelihoods and ood production. Proceedings o the National Academy o Sciences (PNAS). August 23, 2011 vol

no. 34. pnas.org/content/108/34/13957.ull.pd+html

Click the thumbnails below to read more case studies like this:
http://www.itswild.org/http://www.pnas.org/content/108/34/13957.full.pdf+htmlhttp://www.pnas.org/content/108/34/13957.full.pdf+htmlhttp://www.itswild.org/http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348161992.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348164157.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348153415.pdf

case studies undp: community markets for conservation (comaco), zambia

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