Ex-Poachers Prefer COMACO to their Former Life in the Bush

Today, hundreds of transformed poachers across much of Luangwa Valley have seen the rewards of surrendering their firearms and joining COMACO. Nelson Banda of Lundazi District and Edison Nkhata of Chama District spent much of their lives poaching and their respective stories typify the growing impact COMACO is having on Luangwa Valley’s wildlife.

Nelson and Edison both started poaching in their early twenties, using locally manufactured muzzle-loading guns to kill animals as large as elephants. At the age of 24, Nelson became a notorious poacher and travelled many miles along the game trails of the North Luangwa National Park. Despite its many crocodiles, Luangwa River was no barrier for Nelson’s hunting forays on the west bank. There, in the wildlife rich area of North Luangwa National Park, far from his home area to the east, Nelson hunted elephants and black rhinos. In the case of Edison, he was both a manufacturer of muzzle-loading guns and a skilled hunter in the game management area around Chama District. Over time, Edison became a skilled gunsmith, and he was able to make guns equivalent to a rifle. He not only sold such guns to other hunters but he used them himself to poach mostly buffaloes, impalas and warthogs. On average, Edison killed six animals in a month to raise an income to feed his wife and nine children. His prime time for poaching was between January and March when the forest was thick and wildlife scouts were least able to detect him in the bush.

Several times through their hunting escapades, both Nelson and Edison suffered serious injuries. Nelson sustained serious injuries from a crocodile while he was crossing the Luangwa River and was only barely saved by his friends who hauled him out of the water. Edison sustained injuries too and even lost an eye when the gun backfired while hunting an impala. All these risks and accidents proved costly and they realized their life as a poacher was a wrong decision, but without other skills, they had little choice.

COMACO Wildlife Specialist, William Banda, while visiting their respective areas to introduce the COMACO programme came across these two hunters and convinced them to join the programme. He convinced them to attend the seven-week training that offered a range of new skills that could lead them to more rewarding markets and safer ways to support their families. During the training Nelson had much in interest in carpentry and upon graduation he embarked on ox- charts construction. It took Nelson two years for him to perfect his skill of ox-cart construction; while Edison, because of previous skill of making firearms, specialized in making and repairing treadle pumps. Today, Nelson and Edison are making substantial amounts of money and can sustain their families through the skills and economic activities COMACO has provided. Nelson, for example, earns K1, 500,000 for each cart sold, the equivalent of a whole’s income as a poacher.

“All the risks that I exposed my life to never yielded me positive results. The income I generated was very minimal, yet I spent a lot of time in the bush. My family was ever poverty-stricken, a thing that made me poach every year because of the mounting pressure to sustain my family. Taking up COMACO activities seriously is more worthwhile than the rhino horn I previously desired most”, revealed Nelson.

Edison, on the other hand, is supporting agricultural activities by constructing treadle pumps, which are used for irrigation by the local farmers. His dream is to be able to make up to four pumps in a month and raise his level of income. “On average, I am able to make K700, 000 to K1, 000, 000 in a month. I can now sustain my family in a dignified way,” said Edison

COMACO continues to spread the program of poacher transformation across the Luangwa Valley and in 2008 will be expanding into four new chiefs’ areas. By 2010, Wildlife Conservation Society, working with Zambia Wildlife Authority and community leaders, hopes the program will have spread throughout the entire Luangwa Valley ecosystem. Though the black rhinos became extinct in this Valley in the 1980’s, perhaps one day as the muzzle-loading guns are silenced, this species will once again grace this African wilderness.