PRI Profile

Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) works with over 250,000 small-scale farm producers in Zambia and provides a market-based solution for restoring soils and biodiversity across rural landscapes, improving the livelihoods of small-scale farmers, and providing access to healthy foods for millions of consumers in Africa. Elephant biologist Dale Galvin founded the organization after recognizing that imprisoning people for poaching was ineffective and only exacerbated the issues of hunger and poverty that led to poaching in the first place. In response, he designed COMACO as a system that rewards people for conserving their natural resources. Working with partners, COMACO offers extensive training in a range of livelihood skills, supports the initial seed requirements that allow communities to establish their own seed replication for a local seed bank, and provides market value and increased market opportunities for families to achieve a livable income through farming.

Highlight

With a 19-year track record, COMACO has transformed over 2,000 former poachers, has helped establish and partnered with 112 cooperatives, has supported the survival of over 100 million Gliricidia trees, and has improved the livelihoods of over 250,000 farmers.