From poachers to protectors: the sweet story of Zambian honey

Dive into the heart of Zambia, where conservation isn’t just about protecting wildlife; it’s about teaching communities how to live in harmony with it. Such is the mission of COMACO (Community Markets for Conservation), our supplier of Zambian honey.  Their objective is to cultivate a positive relationship between farmers and nature, helping both to thrive by addressing the root causes of poaching and other forms of land degradation. 

This article was written in December 2025. Read time: 3-5 minutes

Where sweetness meets the wilderness

The COMACO story began in the Luangwa Valley, where founder Dale Lewis observed conflict between wildlife and farmers. For over 20 years, COMACO has been leading change in the area by implementing a system that creates a market for local, accessible food crops and rewards people for conserving their natural resources. Creating a market for farmers’ crops allows farming to become a sustainable income stream and removes the need for farmers to resort to illegal poaching.

COMACO works across the Eastern, Central, and Muchinga Provinces of Zambia, supporting more than 300,000 farmer members across over 100 community-run cooperatives. They ask everyone they work with – poachers and farmers – to take a Conservation Pledge, agreeing to abide by a set of community-agreed principles designed to safeguard the health of their soil, forests, and wildlife. Where does a pail of beautiful, dark forest honey fit into this, you ask? In exchange for committing to the pledge, COMACO offers extensive training in a range of livelihood skills, including beekeeping.

How does honey protect the forests?

In Zambia, traditional practices of deforestation pose a real threat to the environment. COMACO's beekeeping approach plays a vital role in protecting remaining forests. Their work safeguards the forest by supplying and encouraging the use of hives hung in trees, and working to phase out traditional hives made from tree bark. The forest has become home to a valuable source of income, removing the incentive to cut down trees for other, less sustainable sources of revenue, such as charcoal.  

The success of their program is clear: as of November 2025, COMACO has distributed over 21,000 beehives that can be tracked via GPS coordinates, registered over 5,000 beekeeping farmers, and converted nearly 1,700 former poachers.

A day in the life of a beekeeper

Zambian beekeeping is a story of craft and care. The Lush Buying Team were fortunate to witness the harvesting process firsthand during their visit to COMACO in November 2025. The Zambian honey used in Lush products is harvested once or twice a year, depending on the region, first in June/July and again in October/November. The hives are opened only during harvest, ensuring the beekeeping process is as minimally invasive as possible.

COMACO train honey mentors to guide the careful, hands-on harvesting practices. The hives, supplied by COMACO, are gently lowered to ground level before being opened. No frames are used within the hives, meaning the bees are free to create their own comb patterns. Farmers only remove honeycomb that is full of honey and clearly capped, intentionally leaving behind any remaining uncapped comb. Once the process is complete, the hive is closed and slowly raised back into the safety of the tree, where it will remain until the next harvest in six to twelve months' time. The raw honeycomb harvested by each community is taken to a local centre, where COMACO collects it and brings it to their processing facility to extract pure honey.

This style of beekeeping requires attention only once or twice a year, adding a high-value, low-effort supplementary income stream for COMACO farmers, whose primary income comes from tending crops such as soy, rice and groundnuts.

Transformation: a sweet future

Another key element of COMACO’s model is their work with former poachers. Ex-poachers are reintegrated into farming and trained in sustainable beekeeping, enabling them to earn a reliable income without resorting to illegal activities. COMACO provides these individuals with the training and materials they need to set themselves and their families on the path to a sustainable and secure future.

At Lush, we are proud to support COMACO’s blended approach to conservation. It’s a fantastic example of how ethical sourcing can empower communities, protect wildlife, and turn a simple, but valuable ingredient into a story of ecological transformation. Every bucket of Zambian honey, rich in cosmetic benefits,  is a commitment to healthier soils, thriving forests, and a community of protectors.

You can learn more about the benefits of Zambian honey and find out which products it’s in on our Fairly Traded Honey ingredients page.

Written by Abi Fitzjohn, Lush Creative Ingredient Buyer