Learn more about our model here: www.itswild.org/about-us/ COMACO targets poor, food insecure families - the people who are most likely to poach wildlife or burn forests for charcoal. COMACO member farmers are then organized into producer groups to promote a traditionally Zambian group committment to better agricultural practices. Regional trade centers provide reliable transfer of commodities to high paying urban markets, and act as training centers for ongoing learning. Finally, a formalized agreement with producer groups to adhere to sustainable land use practices qualifies the farmer for conservation dividends that reward the farmer for taking a chance on this new approach. The skills they learn are liberating, giving them the knowledge to make organic fertilizer, diversify food crops, establish their own seed bank, and maintain a balance between farmland, forests and other natural resources. To support the full adoption of these skills, COMACO buys any surplus crops grown from member farmers at fair market prices and resells them as processed, value-added products branded under the name IT'S WILD!. Critical to achieving food security, COMACO buys ONLY surpluses of those crops that are consumed as food and by increasing their market value, farmers commit more time to learn how to be more productive and thus more food secure. Once a family has harvested and stored their crops, farmers are then able to determine how much surplus they have to sell to COMACO. Having enough to eat, plus cash raised from improved harvests, reduces the need to go into the forest to hunt for meat and make charcoal for cash, preserving the ecosystem for tomorrow!
