Although Zambia has been listed by the World Bank as a country demonstrating recent and expeditious economic reform (World Bank 2010), hunger persists in particularly rural regions of the country, often abutting some of Africa’s and the world's most acclaimed national parks for wildlife viewing. This is to the detriment of conservation-sensitive wildlife species in and near these world-class ecotourism destinations.

Species commonly observed and willfully protected, include some of the most popular African megafauna viewed anywhere on the continent (e.g. lions, leopard, antelope spp., giraffe, wild dog, hyena, hippo and, of course, elephant). Hence, the draw of affluence to region for the purposes of recreational wildlife viewing is in stark contrast to some of the most impoverished humans in the region, which call it home.  

Our bush camp, owned by our sister organization Zikomo Safaris is located in Zambia’s Luangwa District, in the Lusaka Province in the eastern part of the country, not far from the Malawi border and is in close proximity to one of the most impoverished areas in the developing nation. 
 
The economic boom from the growing tobacco and cotton industry may have enhanced agricultural commerce, but it has replaced food commodities in the region, leaving people desperate for food. The flourishing inedible commerce has affected the food supply in rural Zambia forcing people to feed on bush meat, including elephant meat (Wildlife Conservation Society 2015)