title: Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) links biodiversity conservation with sustainable improvements in livelihoods and food production.
abstract: In the Luangwa Valley, Zambia, persistent poverty and hunger present linked challenges to rural development and biodiversity conservation. Both household coping strategies and larger-scale economic development efforts have caused severe natural resource degradation that limits future economic opportunities and endangers ecosystem services. A model based on a business infrastructure has been developed to promote and maintain sustainable agricultural and natural resource management practices, leading to direct and indirect conservation outcomes. The Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) model operates primarily with communities surrounding national parks, strengthening conservation benefits produced by these protected areas. COMACO first identifies the least food-secure households and trains them in sustainable agricultural practices that minimize threats to natural resources while meeting household needs. In addition, COMACO identifies people responsible for severe natural resource depletion and trains them to generate alternative income sources. In an effort to maintain compliance with these practices, COMACO provides extension support and access to high-value markets that would otherwise be inaccessible to participants. Because the model is continually evolving via adaptive management, success or failure of the model as a whole is difficult to quantify at this early stage. We therefore test specific hypotheses and present data documenting the stabilization of previously declining wildlife populations; the meeting of thresholds of productivity that give COMACO access to stable, high-value markets and progress toward economic self-sufficiency; and the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by participants and other community members. Together, these findings describe a unique, business-oriented model for poverty alleviation, food production, and biodiversity conservation.
authors.affiliation: Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO), Wildlife Conservation Society, Manda Hills, Lusaka, Zambia.
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Samuel D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fay
authors.forename: Kim L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Bothi
authors.forename: Lydiah
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gatere
authors.forename: Makando
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kabila
authors.forename: Mwangala
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mukamba
authors.forename: Edwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matokwani
authors.forename: Matthews
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mushimbalume
authors.forename: Carmen I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Moraru
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lassoie
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolfe
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Buck
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Travis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics*; D005843:Geography; D007182:Income; D018803:Models, Economic; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D013997:Time Factors; D015024:Zambia