The project will be implemented in North of Cauca and South of Tolima, in hilly areas highly vulnerable to climate change impacts and El Nino episodes, in different municipalities encompassing FARC transition zones (ZVTN – Zonas Veredales Transitorias de Normalización); coca-producing areas under transition; indigenous tribes and Afro-Colombian communities’ lands.
Context: Sustainable coffe as a post-conflict solution
– Cauca and Tolima are at the heart of a key armed conflict area during the war between the Colombian government and the FARC (and other paramilitary groups and narco cartels), which claimed over 200,000 lives.
– These departments are undergoing a major transition since the peace agreement
IN CAUCA AND TOLIMA, COFFEE IS A CENTRAL AND SUSTAINABLE ACTIVITY
– Coffee is among the main crops in Cauca and Tolima. In Cauca, coffee agriculture covers 95,700 ha. It is mainly produced in small-scale farms, and provides livelihoods to 93,900 families
– Fostering coffee agroforestry systems can create licit, sustainable value for local communities within the peace transition. It is an economic alternative to illicit crops, but also to the quick
development of mining activities and unsustainable livestock farming in the area, which have significant impacts on ecosystems and local communities
DEVELOPING ORGANIC COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS IS KEY
– Full-sun coffee farms are expanding, and organic practices are still not sufficiently adopted
– organic practices and agroforestry will help reversing the trend and protect soils and ecosystems
– Moreover, coffee is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, which are already affecting production quality, yields and areas – agroforestry can increase coffee resilience
– Agricultural pressure on local forests and protected areas is high – intensifying (via agroforestry and organic practices) coffee production systems in unused, degraded lands belonging to smallholders who lack resources to extend their farms can contribute to mitigating this threat
MULTIPLE ENVRIONMENTAL AND SOCIAL BENEFITS SOUTH
– Peace: Supporting the peace process in a conflictridden zone
– Development: Fighting rural poverty and contributing to capacity building and sustainable socioeconomic development
– Conservation: Preserving forests and natural parks ; fighting key deforestation drivers in the area
– Sustainable agriculture: Fostering the transition from full-sun monocultures to agroforestry organic systems
– Minorities’ rights: Contributing to the protection of indigenous reserves and Afro-Colombian community lands
– Securing land titling: Helping sustainably reinforce land tenure for smallholder coffee farmers
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