COMACO's future

COMACO comes at a time when most rural communities in Zambia are not able to sustain seed inputs, fertilizer needs, local food reserves, extension services and favourable, more diversified markets. This has made many communities acutely vulnerable to the effects of poverty and hunger, aggravated especially by crippling episodes of drought and sometimes floods. COMACO will demonstrate that such problems are locally solvable when communities are structured to own, lead and participate in fair market opportunities that reward producers for adopting sustainable agricultural and land management practices. With increased data to affirm these results and refine methodologies, Wildlife Conservation Society, working with its partners, hopes to expand the COMACO program to different Districts in Zambia. Newly developed collaboration with Program Against Malnutrition and other local partners has begun to more effectively support these expansion efforts.

	A COMACO Board meeting. COMACO's future will depend on building strong and transparent business practices that enable communities to see the value of conducting themselves in ways that reward hard work and fair market opportunities built around conservation.