Community Markets for Conservation

In the fields where groundnuts and soybeans grow, farmers are doing more than planting crops, they are restoring the soil beneath their feet.

For 67-year-old Simon Zimba of Kapatamoyo Chiefdom in Chipata District, soil improvement skills that he has gained from COMACO have transformed his life. “What is working for me as a farmer should work for everyone because knowledge is power,” Zimba says.

Since joining COMACO in 2020, he and his wife, Iwase Tembo, have improved soil fertility on their farm, increased harvests, and use their farm as a demonstration site where other farmers come to learn. Every season, their harvests support school fees, food, and household needs by avoiding costly farming input costs with the skills she’s learned that COMACO has taught that now give her higher yields and better markets that COMACO provides.

“I teach conservation everywhere I go: funerals, church meetings, and community gatherings,” Iwase says. “It is my purpose to help every household in my village learn the same skills that keep me food secure, and with the right farming practices, we can stay out of poverty and keep our forests.”

Across COMACO’s farmer network, restored soils are producing the legumes that go into It’s Wild! peanut butter, Yummy Soy, and Jumbo Combo porridge. Every jar and every packet reflects the care of farmers who are rebuilding their soils, protecting their forests, and strengthening their communities, showing that conservation and livelihoods go hand in hand.