Two Days Ago, in Malama Village...

Two days ago in Malama village a woman was badly injured by an elephant while walking home.  That night in the same area, a young man was attacked and killed by an elephant and the community is burying his body today.  Many people in Malama village earn their living through farming, and the maize (corn) is ready to harvest.  Not far away are elephants, anxious to help themselves if given a chance.  Up the road a few miles are tourist lodges, where people from all over the world come to see these “gentle” giants.  Sitting in the comfort of an open land cruiser, they can safely approach their first elephant and gaze with wonder and amazement.  In a few moments of experiencing such awe, they become passionate lovers of Africa’s wildlife.  Few have any idea of the fear, the anger, and perhaps the hatred that local farmers only a short distance away feel toward these majestic beasts. 

As I take my morning jog down a winding road lined with Mopane trees, I retrace the footprints left by elephants the previous night.  Their trails wander off into unknown directions and perhaps into an unknown future.  At each end are two very different worlds.  One will most definitely shape the future of elephants in Africa; the other might, if it responds the right way. 

COMACO tries to bring these two worlds together: the consumer who has the luxury of money to spend and the small-scale farmer who farms in the midst of great challenges and hardships.  Working together, they might be able to keep wild animals like elephants safe.  This is what COMACO does through the IT’S WILD! brand of products that comes from these same farmers, but we can’t do it without the consumer support that comes with each grocery purchase.  

Conservation is not a perfect science, often because it is deeply rooted in emotions that detach us from the realities of rural poverty and hunger, and the consequences from both on the natural wonders we treasure and wish to preserve.  COMACO is a company, more hard-nose than teary-eyed.  We work hard to shift the economic balance toward farmers who accept the costs of conservation and are willing to find and learn new ways to share their lands with wild animals and forests.  For those who do, COMACO pays a premium on what they sell to COMACO, and a dividend for being good farmers and responsible land stewards.  We the consumer, get a product that is good for us and good for the future of elephants.