MAKING

FARMERS

OUT OF POACHERS

POACHERS

Poverty in Zambia has a direct and serious impact on the natural world. Low incomes and food insecurity force farmers to turn to environmentally destructive practices for survival. A CARE-supported project is delivering financial and social benefits to poor farmers while helping to protect Zambias sensitive ecosystems.

Model

Context

When poverty threatens nature Zambia is home to more than 13 million people, two-thirds of whom live in rural areas and earn less than US$1 per day. Poverty is particularly widespread in the countrys Luangwa Valley, where residents resort to monocropping, wild-game poaching or charcoal manufacturing to obtain additional food and money. Such practices contribute to food insecurity, degrade the countrys natural resource base and reduce options for income diversication. To respond to the problem of poverty and associated environmental devastation, the Wildlife Conservation Society of Zambia (WCS) launched the Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) program in 2003.

Successful farmers dont need to poach COMACO targets poor residents who adopt practices such as poaching to survive. Program participants become members of producer groups and are taught about sustainable agricultural practices and new techniques for improving crop yields. Those who employ such practices are given conservation dividends such as new equipment and tools at the end of the farming season as rewards for jobs well done. After harvest, farmers deliver their wares to local COMACO depots (of which there are 75 located across Eastern Zambia, particularly near national forests and parks, where environmental degradation tends to be highest) for payment. Farmers who sell to COMACO receive a price premium of as much as ve per cent above regular market prices.

COMACO

ZAMBIA

Each COMACO trading depot performs two functions. It serves as a warehouse for collected foodstuffs and input products, and hosts a teaching centre at which famers learn new techniques and income-earning skills as alternatives to destructive environmental practices. When a trading depots stores are full, its goods are shipped to a CTC for processing and packaging. Although each CTC sells some goods directly to consumers, most are distributed to the public via retail and wholesale channels. Goods sold under the COMACO Its Wild! brand include roasted peanuts, peanut butter, honey, beans, soy-based products, and chama rice. Success: by the numbers Since its inception, COMACO has proved remarkably successful. Its more than 3,000 producer groups count more than 40,000 member farmers. Its 36 trading depots serve six community trading centres. The CARE-supported CTC in particular works with nearly 7,200 farmers across 530 producer groups. Given that the average family in this part of Zambia includes six members, CAREs work affects as many as 43,000 people. The average annual income of a COMACO participant increased by 74 per cent in the first four years of the program. Many producers are now engaging in further income-generating activities, while non-producers who live near CTCs have found work in processing and packaging operations. COMACO has also delivered social benefits for women. Of the 7,166 farmers registered at the CARE-supported CTC, 60 per cent are female. Women are empowered, and have better access to resources and improved skills. They have become significant contributors to their household incomes.

CARE Champions the Chama Community Trading Centre

Beginning in 2008 and drawing on funding from the Canadian International Development Agency, CARE partnered with the WCS to support COMACO. CARE provided nancial and technical assistance to one of COMACOs six community trading centres (CTCs), located in the Chama district.

Seeding grounds for further development

In addition to teaching new strategies for food production, COMACO maintains its own self-sustaining program. At the beginning of every season, farmers borrow seeds for planting. At the end, they are required to return 50 per cent more seeds than they borrowed. This initiative helps COMACO sustain its operations and continue to expand and assist even more farmers.

Conservation is good business Lessons learned To ensure success, administrators of future programs must observe two lessons. Although COMACO has protected the environment and augmented social wellbeing for many, the programs economic benet cannot be overstated. Residents are far less likely to participate in similar programs without the promise of better incomes. Although 60 per cent of the farmers participating in the CARE-supported CTC were women, COMACO has struggled to provide opportunities for women that will bring about more fundamental change. More deliberate efforts must invest in leadership training and elevate women into decision-making roles.
The benets of COMACO are not limited to the wellbeing of Zimbabwes human population. Before COMACO became operational, an estimated 4,000 wild animals died annually in snares in Luangwa Valley. Annual wildlife census surveys from before COMACOs inception to 2009 show a 30-per cent increase in population among monitored species. Thanks to COMACOs activities, former poachers have surrendered 1,800 illegal rearms and more than 50,000 snares. A demonstrable reduction in poaching activities has led to signicant cost savings for government. WCS estimates that the cost of training a poacher to practice sustainable farming is less than US$300. Conversely, the per-poacher cost of law enforcement is US$2,500. By encouraging more than 300 poachers to give up illegal hunting, COMACO has saved the government more than US $700,000 in law enforcement costs.

About the program

CARE Canadas Enterprise and Economic Development (EED) approach is designed to expand economic opportunities for vulnerable people through local small businesses and informal, village-based micro-enterprises. For the past ten years, CAREs EED work has focused on improving access to markets and value chains, supporting social enterprises that operate in the missing middle, and developing and strengthening micronance institutions, community-based nancial services and income generating activities. Such efforts not only help improve the livelihood, security and resilience of poor men and women the world over, but also promote gender equality and yield better health, education, housing and social-relations outcomes for all.

This project was supported by the Canadian International Development Agency