We are so proud to have Royal Chundu Lodge Manager, Aggie Banda as a Member of the Relais & Châteaux Sustainability Commission. Aggie has been on the Commission since March 2024 and is serving in this role for 10 years.

Aggie writes…

I have always been driven at Royal Chundu to ensure that our lodge serves as catalyst for sustainable growth and positive change through giving back to the community.

As part of the Commission, I contribute as much as I can, especially from the community aspect, by sharing our experiences from Royal Chundu. I am also able to learn from others and use these insights and perspectives to grow our own sustainability mission at the lodge.

The members of the commission are Laurent Gardinier – the President of Relais & Châteaux, as well as members Mauro Colagreco, Malik Fernando, Vittoria Ferragamo, Dereck Joubert, Charles McDiarmid, Petit Miribel and myself, Aggie Banda.

Working with these amazing people has been a journey of learning. We all come from different parts of the world, cities, game reserves, and remote communities, together with one voice, we work to preserve what we can for a better tomorrow and future generation. Through being on the Commission I have been able to learn more about how we can preserve the world’s hospitality and culinary traditions, contribute to the protection and development of biodiversity, and take daily action for a more humane world.

I have learnt to build a more respectful, united, sustainable world in harmony with all life on earth. I’ve also gained new ideas in how to share sustainable ways of life with our Royal Chundu Family as well as our guests – for example by encouraging every guest to visit our village.

Royal Chundu has always practiced sustainability, but we are excited to continue improving already existing ways such as education, training and community support, as well as utilising sustainable services and supplies.

Some of the sustainability projects I’ve been a part of and pioneered at Royal Chundu are the Zambezi Joy Society, of which I am a co-founder and partner, but I also help manage the Royal Chundu Foundation and our work with the school and communities alongside us.

Sustainability is the key for tomorrow. I hope to strike the balance between humans and nature in everything that we do at the lodge and through the Foundation.

Through the Royal Chundu Foundation, over the years we have developed three key projects: seed donation programme ; sustainable fishing initiatives and support; and our growing school.

At Royal Chundu, the village provides, but it also runs, supports, drives and benefits from the lodge. We are a community-run lodge, one of very few of its kind in Africa. It’s a model that we believe can create massive positive change across Africa, and that can help build a stronger, more equal Zambia.

Starting with our people… 99% of our team are Zambian, including our managers. Most of us come from or live in one of the two villages right next door to the lodge – the agricultural Malambo village and the fishing-centric Muluka village. Providing training at the lodge, we’re able to give our team significant opportunities for growth. We offer training to anyone in our community through online hospitality courses and then practical experience at the lodge to back the online course, in order for villagers to obtain certification.

All of our food is sourced from Zambia, mostly supplied by local fishermen and village gardens – whether it’s our own lodge chicken coop and herb and vegetable garden, or the lettuce and mangoes brought in by staff from their home gardens, or Edith and the women of Malambo, with their impressive beds of mielies, chilies, impwa, tomatoes and spinach, and their village chicken and free-range eggs.

We support the village gardeners through a Seed Project, donating seeds to anyone who wishes to grow crops for our kitchens, which we then purchase at market cost. We support local fishermen by buying fresh bream or parrot fish – often from mekoro arriving at River or Island Lodge. This enables us to give our guests a true taste of Zambia and ensure that sustainable fishing measures and regulations are adhered to.

As much as possible, we look to our own sphere for suppliers – such as seamstress work, for our chitenge uniforms, cushion covers, doormats and dish covers, woodwork for our wooden doorbells and mini-mekoro for the Tasting Menu and boutique, for artwork on the walls. Our own staff have created spin-off businesses from the lodge, such as transfer services for our guests, between the airport and our front door, and courier services (such as Best, our Head of Security, who delivers firewood and fertiliser to us by a cattle-drawn cart).

What this means on the ground…

The impact of this is the immediate upliftment of the people who live right beside us – and the families that rely on them. The impact of this is that everyone is invested in the lodge and rather than being work, the lodge is something we are entwined with, in heart and soul. The impact is a uniquely, proudly and distinctive Zambian flavour, look, sound and feel. In our food, in our colours and patterns, in our words and smiles, in our stories and music and dance.

Guests walk away having experienced real Zambia, having connected with the people born from its land, having tasted the ingredients and cooking styles of the nation. Guests leave having helped to support not simply a lodge in Zambia, but countless families, school children at the Royal Chundu Foundation School, women empowerment initiatives and local entrepreneurship.