Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange and Reforestation in Colombia
HOST ORGANIZATION
Cooperativa del Sur del Cauca (COSURCA)
LOCATION
Macizo and Sur del Cauca region, Colombia.
AMOUNT
$10,000
REACH
274 farmers and community members
27,000 trees and supporting plants
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Grow Ahead has teamed up with COSURCA and Cooperative Coffees to expand agroecological capacities and community adaptability practices to climate change.
COSURCA worked with five other grassroots organizations (ASPROALMAGUER, CERROLERMA, ASPROSANLOR, ASPROSI and ASPROASIC) in the Macizo and Sur del Cauca regions of Colombia, where communities are facing the impacts of climate change. In the municipalities where these organizations are based (Almaguer, Bolívar, La Sierra), climate change has severely affected the soil and harvest cycle, thereby affecting production of coffee, cocoa, peanuts and other food crops. Soil degradation and erosion due to human processes and soil topography, as well as inadequate protection of water sources due to loss of tree cover, inappropriate agricultural practices and the presence of illicit crops have also worsened the effects of climate change on smallholder farmers.
COSURCA's work is aimed at promoting agroecology and strengthening productive diversification, the management of areas of water and environmental interest, and other practices that contribute to adaptation and the fight against climate change. The project worked to give continuity to and strengthen the regional work of COSURCA and:
- Provided technical support and training to improve practices for adaptability to climate change for 460 producers in 274 farms
- Facilitated intergenerational dialogues that promote the transfer and exchange of knowledge and experiences of community elders around seeds, association and rotation of crops and adaptation practices of the peasant farm to climate change, and produce a documentation of this knowledge for future generations
- Carried out the construction and start-up of group-managed community nurseries for the reproduction of plant species recommended by knowledgeable peasants such as shade in coffee and cocoa crops and for the protection of areas of environmental interest.
- Planted 27,000 shade trees of native species of traditional use in 274 agroecological farms producing coffee, cocoa and food crops
- Planted native plant species to protect areas of water and environmental interest in 173 agroecological farms.
COSURCA and Cooperative Coffees have maintained a business relationship for more than 10 years, aligned in the mission of fair trade, sustainable development and impactful climate actions. Within the framework of this common interest, the Collaborative Agreement was signed in July 2021 for the execution of the project "Agroecological production and the adaptability of organic coffee cultivation to climatic variability on farms of small producers associated with the ASPROSUCRE and ASPROSUR organizations”, which strengthens agroecological production processes for specialty coffee through technical support and training, the construction of community nurseries to increase shade seedlings in crops and areas of environmental interest on the farm, and the construction of fertilizer production units. for the fertilization of crops as practices that improve the adaptability of the farm to climate change.
