about ACHM

Allan Savory and his wife, Jody Butterfield, co-founded the Africa Centre for Holistic Management in 1992 to support the dissemination of Holistic Management in Africa through innovative training and outreach programs based on a practical learning site that provides evidence of land, water and wildlife restoration using livestock. In 2009 they co-founded the U.S.-based Savory Institute with others to expand the work globally.

ACHM is a Zimbabwean-registered social welfare organisation affiliated with the Savory Institute as the first member in what has become a global network of hubs, or learning centres. Based on the 3,200-hectare Dimbangombe Conservancy, near Victoria Falls, ACHM has been able to demonstrate the effectiveness of Holistic Management and Holistic Planned Grazing on its own land for over a decade. From this solid foundation of proven results ACHM began working directly with local communal farmers in 2005 and with NGO’s and government agencies in 2010 following receipt of a five-year, multi-million dollar grant from the US Agency for International Development to develop a training of trainers program to extend the knowledge more rapidly.

Dimbangombe Conservancy

Our 3,200-hectare learning site is 32 km south of Victoria Falls. It is home to a large wildlife population, a mixed herd of cattle and goats, and an ever-improving landscape.

Dimbangombe’s training centre now hosts several hundred community leaders and NGO staff each year for training in “Holistic Land and Livestock Management.” The program uses the curriculum we jointly developed with Savory Institute to address the specific needs and context of subsistence farmers living and grazing on communal lands. This curriculum is now used throughout Southern Africa and increasingly elsewhere.

In 2010 ACHM won the international Buckminster Fuller Challenge (USA), which awards a $100,000 annual prize to support the development and implementation of a strategy that has “significant potential to solve some of humanity’s most pressing problems.” In 2014 ACHM was recognised as a “leading-edge innovator in food security” on receiving the Humanitarian Water & Food Award (Denmark). And in 2019 ACHM’s work was named one of 15 Outstanding Practices in Agroecology by the World Future Council.

ACHM is a Zimbabwean-registered social welfare organisation affiliated with the USA-based Savory Institute. We host community leaders and NGO staff each year for training in “Holistic Land and Livestock Management.” The program uses the curriculum we jointly developed with Savory Institute to address the specific needs and context of subsistence farmers living and grazing on communal lands.

We also provide Holistic Management training to commercial land managers wanting to regenerate their farming, ranching and game management operations throughout the region.

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On a daily basis, our work is changing the livelihoods of communities and wildlife in Southern Africa and beyond. Your support can continue to change the direction of our future.

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Organisations we have partnered with

Through key partnerships in our international, national and local networks, we are continuously striving to improve the quality and expand the range of our programs and services.