Cooperatives and conservation: what is so special about COMACO?

Sharing and helping are an important part of the social fabric in Zambia’s rural communities. COMACO’s cooperatives embody this spirit more and more as they learn and practice conservation in their own special way.

When cooperative members in Nsefu, Kazembe and Chitungulu chiefdoms had their maize and rice fields swept away by floods this past year, cooperatives from multiple chiefdoms on the plateau answered their call with sweet potato vines and cassava cuttings to ensure afflicted families would have food. Over 500 households benefited from this gesture of goodwill from the cooperatives to boost their threatened food security.

Other cooperatives have promised to provide bean seeds once harvested to counter risks of hunger following this natural disaster. Increasingly, cooperatives across Luangwa Valley are recognizing that cooperation and not competition will build a better future of everyone.”

What is driving this?

Partly the traditional values of helping and sharing are reemerging as cooperatives build a path toward self-reliance with new farming technologies and markets that COMACO is helping to support. As COMACO, we see a growing cooperative spirit of achieving more when cooperatives work together to overcome common challenges.

[bctt tweet=”One very common challenge is the destruction and loss of natural resources when communities do not plan or encourage better practices.” username=”COMACO_Zambia”] Such threats occur beyond cooperative boundaries and need a shared responsibility so such pressures can be contained and future economies developed.

COMACO’s radio program called Farm Talk and the increasing use of SMS messaging supported by COMACO are giving cooperatives a platform to communicate solutions and growing solidarity for linking conservation with development. [bctt tweet=”Tolerance to poaching and charcoal-making is waning and community pride in setting aside protected forests and enforcing environmental regulations is growing. #COMACOWorks #ForestConservation” username=”COMACO_Zambia”]

Where all this leads is a good question. It is probably not a quest to make lots of money because small-scale farming will not make you rich. For this pursuit, try your luck in the city with a skill that an advanced education can provide. But if it is life that offers free water to drink, free sustainable fuelwood for cooking, clean air, healthy foods you grow yourself, and having better markets to meet basic needs with ample time to enjoy friends and family, then it is easy to see why a life as a cooperative member would be preferred.

COMACO cooperatives have a ways to go as they build financial independence for supporting the needs of their members. Annual accounts need to be audited, annual general meetings require full attendance to build transparency and accountability of their leaders, and of course, good environmental governance is essential. These are the building blocks that will give COMACO farmers a real crack at making markets and conservation work together for a better life and a long-term commitment to the resources they live with.