COMACO is a social enterprise that supports wildlife conservation and small-scale farmers in Zambia.
We work with illegal wildlife poachers to provide alternative livelihood skills and train small-scale farmers in the leading practices of climate-smart, sustainable agriculture. We then buy crops from our farmers at premium market prices and turn them into high-value food products that we sell across Zambia under the brand It’s Wild! Through dramatically improved incomes and increased food security, our farmers have become stewards of their land and advocates for wildlife conservation.
Elephants were dying and people were hungry. We trained poachers to farm and provided a market where there was none. 18 years later, we work with 225,000 food-secure farmers in an elephant-rich Luangwa Valley.
With ingredients sourced directly from the fields of our farmers, we produce nutritious, high-quality food products under the brand It’s Wild! Farmed organically and made without hidden additives or chemicals, our products are as good for you as they are for Zambia. All proceeds from the sale of our products are channeled directly back into farmer support services, and furthering our conservation goals.
We take a multi-faceted approach to improving livelihoods and conservation in Zambia
People We Helped on 2018
Dollars We Collected
Women’s Empowerment
Our field staff learned early on that when women are included in farmer trainings, those households
Manufacturing as a Tool for Conservation
We supply over 8,000 tons (and increasing) of nutritious food products to Zambia’s cities and town
Carbon Project
We began working in partnership with local chiefs to establish Community Conservation Areas designed
Cooperatives
We helped establish 80 community-run cooperatives across Zambia’s Eastern Province, which provide
Transformed Poachers
In 2003 when COMACO started its operations in Luangwa Valley, our mission was to help wildlife poach
Agroforestry
In the 2020/2021 season in Eastern and Muchinga provinces we partnered with 72,000 farmers to plant
Beekeeping
We work with over 7,000 farmers in the Luangwa Valley in beekeeping, this not only protects the land
Sustainable Agriculture
Families that previously struggled to feed themselves now have enough to eat and a reliable income s
Counting the costs, delivering the benefits, restoring the land
Like most people, small-scale farmers respond to markets that offer the best price and typically follow the pr
The Tree That’s Changing Everything for Small-Scale Farmers in Zambia
I don’t believe she had ever planted a tree before. Though I can’t remember her name, I will neve
Confessions of a CEO, a chance encounter, and a new enterprise!
With a determined staff and deep convictions, COMACO is now launching a new business model that links our farm
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