Partners and Donors

Funding Partners

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.

The Royal Norwegian Embassy

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.
 

Technical Partners

Conservation Farming Unit of Zambia, Lead Agricultural Technical Partner

The Conservation Farming Unit (CFU) has a long history of developing and testing farming practices that promote improved soil management, water conservation, and increased crop yields for small scale farmers.  COMACO and CFU collaborate extensively on best practices for rolling out appropriate technologies through the farmer-based organizations developed and supported by COMACO with its market approach.
 

General Mills, Lead Technical Partner

With over 1500 food scientists and food processing engineers supporting some of the major food brands in the world and with deep philanthropic interest in helping end hunger in Africa,  the General Mills Company of the USA could not be a better technical partner for COMACO.  The two companies are in almost daily contact working through problems of product design and equipment specifications.   General Mills is committed to COMACO’s success and regards it as an important model for helping stimulate food production in rural Africa while addressing problems of poverty and conservation.   It has made a number of major contributions that have given It’s Wild! an opportunity to be a leading brand in the region.  COMACO Food Technologist, Mr. Jimmy Chikhaya, received formal training at the General Mills food processing labs in the USA and most all of COMACO’s senior staff have a relationship with counterpart professionals at General Mills.  It is a big brother relationship that has put a steady breeze behind the COMACO sails, giving COMACO momentum and direction with the work it does in Zambia

Cornell University, Lead Academic Collaborating Partner

Cornell University of the USA provides a rich network of academic expertise that COMACO frequently taps into for helping find solutions for many of its technical challenges, covering such fields as food science, veterinary applications, compost refinements, carbon sequestration, crop improvement and much more.   Cornell also offers its academic talents for preparing joint research documents with COMACO in the analysis of COMACO’s impacts on social benefits and environmental results.
 

Business Partners

Haas Business School, Berkeley University, Lead Business Consulting Partner

The Haas Business School of Berkeley University in the USA has identified COMACO as one of the few examples of an emerging company addressing poverty and environmental threats in the developing world.  Each year for the past four, it has sent teams of MBA students to undertake specific assignments, including performance audits, business plans and marketing plans.  The relationship continues to evolve and grow, with the prospects that COMACO will become a classroom subject for how to make such companies more successful and numerous around the world.