Partners and donors

COMACO had its beginnings by scraping together a bit of money, repairing some used trucks and radios, renovating a few old buildings, and tapping into a huge pool of rural people keen to establish a business that would help them escape the costs of poverty without depleting their natural resources. From this modest beginning, COMACO was able to attract certain funding institutions that offered critically needed seed money to further advance COMACOs early development. Among these institutions were the Wallace Foundation, US Fish and Wildlife Service, CARE International, AHEAD program, and the Japanese, Canadian and German Embassies. As the program progressed, COMACO demonstrated the critical link between food security and conservation and began initiating ways to support more sustainable and productive farming methods and to motivate farmers to adopt these practices. World Food Program, which is a UN organization, became a critical partner to these efforts and was pivotal in helping expand COMACOs activities in the Luangwa Valley.

The Royal Norwegian Embassy has the largest donor investment in Zambia's wildlife sector and has also contributed heavily to the agriculture sector. Recognizing the potential synergy between conservation and agriculture that COMACO could bring to rural communities living outside national parks, the Royal Norwegian Embassy provided a major grant in 2006 to WCS and a collaborating local NGO partner, Program Against Malnutrition. These funds support the testing of the COMACO model and will help build the foundation for COMACOs future expansion in Zambia.

Throughout its history, COMACO has benefited enormously from its day-to-day working relationship with such partners as the community producers and their local leaders, members of the private sector, and local and national Government authorities, including local district councils and Zambia Wildlife Authority. In recent years WCS has also sought the partnership of academic institutions to provide science-based peer reviews of COMACOs results. Most notable among these are Cornell University and Berkeley University. As the work of COMACO becomes better documented and peer-reviewed, individual sources of help have also stepped forward to contribute inspiration, technical assistance, insight and funds.

WCS acknowledges with enormous gratitude the major contributions these diverse and important sources of help, both big and small, have brought to the success and on-going improvements of the COMACO approach. WCS endeavors to forge continued partnerships to ensure COMACO succeeds in building a safer and greener Africa. Listed below are the institutional partners and donors helping support this mission.