NAKATINDI VILLAGE, ZAMBIA

Nakatindi is a small village of around 5,000 people located on the edge of the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. The smallest national park in Zambia runs alongside the Zambezi River and is home to the country’s only white rhinos, as well as the Victoria Falls that make it such a popular destination.

The area is rich in wildlife and natural attractions, yet the people who live along its borders often did not feel the benefits of their proximity to the park, and many were experiencing economic hardship. Historically, there were few opportunities in Nakatindi, and human-wildlife and human-nature conflict were ever-present. If the area had not been designated a national park, protected by fences, it would have been used by the locals for vital farming land. Yet for many years there was little local benefit of living on the doorstep of a region that was so resource-rich and alluring to visitors.

When Abercrombie & Kent opened Sussi & Chuma Lodge in 2010, the conscious decision was made to collaborate with the people who live near it. The premise was to work together with Nakatindi residents to ensure that the protection, preservation and appreciation of this beautiful natural landscape in southern Zambia was beneficial to everyone — the guests who came to visit, the businesses in the region serving the visitors, and the local people.

To that end, AKP worked with Nakatindi community leaders and residents to identify where it could partner to create lasting impact, not just short-term interventions. The first project off the ground was a health clinic and a maternity ward, now serving thousands of people in the region, followed by a school that 1,000 students attend.

Sustainable development of protected areas also means sustainable livelihoods for people who live nearby. In Nakatindi, the Chipego bike shop (which launched in 2015) and Sishemo bead shop have transformed the economic potential of women in the region, including those living with HIV. In a village where people had few educational or job opportunities or access to health care, the transformation in the last 10 years has been remarkable and is a testament to what can be achieved with a holistic view of philanthropy.

Thanks to the scale of AKP’s local investment, almost everyone in the village of 5,000 is positively impacted. Whether it’s a child receiving an education and a midday meal in the school (provided to all 1,200 students), a parent getting treatment at a medical clinic, an elder now having access to clean water or a young entrepreneur being able to access wider opportunities by bike, almost every life in the village has benefited from our unique community partnership model.

“Ultimately conservation is about people. If you don’t have sustainable development around ... wildlife parks, then people will have no interest in them, and the parks will not survive.” — Nelson Mandela