Community Development

Through ongoing community engagement and integration, Liuwa is helping to renew the people’s commitment and custodianship for the landscape. Today, the park is the largest employer in the region and provides critical educational and health benefits to the communities. Liuwa has also engaged with the communities to understand the traditional approaches to fishing and fire management. As a result, the new fire management plan has been developed in accordance with traditional community methods. 

Two members of the Barotse Royal Establishment serve as representatives of the African Parks Zambia Board, providing a voice for the people on governance and decision-making matters. Over 100 community meetings take place annually. An Environmental and Social Due Diligence assessment was completed, providing critical insights into community dynamics in and around Liuwa Plain. The findings are informing strategies to enhance both conservation and sustainable community development as part of an environmental and social action plan.

A major challenge for communities in and around Liuwa is ongoing human-wildlife conflict (HWC), which poses a threat to cattle farmers. Liuwa introduced a HWC Mitigation Fund and awareness programme, which includes financial reimbursement to registered farmers who adhere to the fund's regulations for cattle killed by predators. The fund also provides conflict mitigation tools such as cowbells and solar alarm lamps to deter hyaena and other predators. Ongoing awareness-raising meetings around HWC are held resulting in more cases being reported as people now feel that support is available.

Through the Liuwa Environmental Education Programme (LEEP), conservation clubs have been established in several schools in and around the park to increase environmental awareness and highlight opportunities to improve livelihoods through tourism and conservation. The park’s school sponsorship programme provides bursaries that cover schooling and boarding fees for approximately 250 students annually, as well as textbooks, extra learning materials, and uniforms. An increasing number of teachers from the communities are being supported each year.

Nearly 700 students visited the park on environmental education programmes in 2024, and 775 children are members of wildlife clubs.

Traditional and sustainable fishing practices are supported in Liuwa Plain National Park © Marcus Westberg

Liuwa has become a major supporter of sustainable livelihood projects in the area. Over 4,500 farmers are benefitting from conservation agriculture, and over 2,600 are beneficiaries of enterprise development. Long-established, traditional fishing practices are supported and regulated to allow for lasting fish stocks, while beekeeping projects provide alternative incomes.

Through the Jumpstart Project, various sustainability projects assist the community to move towards more drought-resistant crops and conservation-led agriculture, as well as harvesting and selling honey and dried mango. A major benefit to local fishermen has been the provision of a truck to get their fish to market in the larger centres such as Mongu, thereby enabling them to earn higher prices for their catch. 

African Parks’ sustainable agriculture team is focusing on upskilling community members and field workers. Farmer Field Schools, an agricultural education programme, have some 4,700 farmers learning sustainable farming methods. All these projects are having a positive impact on food security.

The Community Resource Board Agro-Vet shop in Kalabo was formally transferred to community management in 2024. The shop is an established business that is a supplier of agricultural equipment, seeds and veterinary products, promoting sustainable farming methods and supporting livelihoods in the area. 

Liuwa Plain makes monthly payments to a Community Development Fund. The amount is directly linked to the degree of illegal hunting occurring in the park, with larger sums being awarded in acknowledgment of effective anti-poaching efforts by a community. Proceeds from the fund are used for projects chosen by the communities themselves and have included canoes for transport, building materials for school buildings, teachers’ houses and rural health clinics.