Strengthening Agricultural Production

The municipality of Caldas Antioquia presents a low productive capacity in the peasant families, this problem is related to the scarcity of resources for the financing of agricultural projects, the low transfer of technology and technical assistance, the low organizational capacity of the productive sectors that It allows them to open distribution channels for their products, this added to the low generational turnover and migration of young people to large cities. In addition, for a few years the municipality has changed its agricultural culture to a dependency on the extraction of non-renewable natural resources such as timber. That is why it is intended to improve the living conditions of families and increase their income.

Taking care of the environment and that the consumer acquires food without chemicals is the main objective of organic agriculture.Countries are requesting products that are not treated with chemicals,as they have warned of the risks that these cause to human health,and are even able to pay a higher value for them.Organically grown food has been growing and studies show that it will continue to increase,organic or ecological agriculture is an option for business.Ecological Agriculture was recognized,in the Bio Meeting 2001,by more than 100 businessmen as“the commercial opportunity of the future”.The main characteristics of organic agriculture are the possibility of care and extension that is given to the environment and equally way, that the products it offers are totally natural,since they have all the necessary nutrients for the human body (SDG2,SDG3), because no chemical inputs are used.In Colombia,every year the number of clean hectares that adds to pleasing consumers increases,both Colombians and other countries are able to pay higher costs to protect their health.Like any business,organic farming has its challenges and the most urgent,for the organic business to soar in Caldas Municipality, is to achieve the union and organization of producers to meet the amount of food that is being requested(SDG17).

GENERAL PURPOSE
Strengthen agricultural activity in the municipality of Caldas Antioquia within the framework of Food Security and the 2030 SDGs.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Establish productive units of banana, plantain, vegetables, rabbit breeding, bioremediation, hydroponics and composting (SDG 1 End Poverty, SDG 2 Zero Hunger, SDG 3 Health and Well-being, Produce food organically (SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production).
Improve the quality of life of the people of the municipality of Caldas who directly and indirectly benefit (SDG 3 Health and Well-being, SDG 5 Gender Equality, SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 10 Reduction of Inequalities), fair treatment avoiding intermediaries, stimulating the young population to remain in their terroirs.

Strengthening the municipal economy is essential for the growth of the municipality and guaranteeing the food security of the inhabitants of Caldas (SDG 1 End of Poverty, SDG 2 Zero Hunger, SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 10 Reduction of Inequalities , SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 17 Alliances to achieve the Objectives), the diagnosis of agricultural conditions shows that only 6 hectares of the municipality are cultivated and mainly with bread-picking crops, this makes it necessary to establish production diversification programs farming that guarantees the improvement of the living conditions of the inhabitants (SDG 1 End Poverty, SDG 2 Zero Hunger, SDG 3 Health and Well-being), the increase of their income and reduction of unemployment in the municipality (SDG 8 Decent Work and Growth Economic), it is important to present agricultural projects that allow families to transmit knowledge to their children that guarantees a generational changeover and mitigates the migration of the young population to the big cities (SDG 5 Gender Equality, SDG 10 Reduction of Inequalities).

Plan aims to improve amount of protein intake of farmers of municipality(rabbit harvest),we rescue ancestral knowledge with planting of bananas,legumes,which in addition to providing nutrients,seeks to join them in cooperatives for surplus sales production without intermediaries.Focused a practice on the ground,where farmers sees successful cases,as soil improvement(bioremediation),vegetables hydroponic cultivation,aromatic and medicinal plants,prototypes in development such the rabbit,apiary,and butterfly harvest,without forgetting importance of protecting the environment,creating  circular economy that uses the largest amount of waste generated, so we have implemented the PET, composting and collection program.All this makes the business viable,favoring the farmer, his family, the municipality and the environment.   

The plan has been developing for some years, unfortunately in previous municipal administrations, we had no echo, with scarce resources and the collaboration of a few we have been growing in infrastructure, and pilot tests of the different productive units of our corporation. Being a second-degree social corporation, it has many enemies, even within the same peer social groups. We have generated credibility and honesty in our work with the community after work. We have no desire, neither economic nor political, with the arrival of this new municipal administration, we find our projects echoing and they have invited us to present the projects, for this reason we see with a great future the integration of the different actors that are necessary for the proper development of a project, farmers, municipal administration, community, suppliers and future buyers, hence this project is innovative, not so much for the plan itself, if not for the willingness to work in a team that you feel with the different interlocutors. This is not a very common practice in our country, where working as a group and in social projects is very rarely effective.

In Colombia,studies that try to characterize consumers of organic products are still incipient, however,in recent years we can find studies such as that of Vargas & Valencia (2015),which identified the profile of women consumers of green products from between 20 to 40 years, concluding that there is a relationship between the undergraduate and graduate educational level, high wages,as well as having no children,who show a greater affinity for the purchase of green products.Another study is that of Arroyave (2015) focused on ecological consumption in Antioquia,which evidenced the existence of a market of potential consumers in terms of purchasing green goods and services, which have a profile of greater awareness regarding the care of the planet, healthy lifestyles;However, there is a lack of incentives from the government and from the companies themselves with policies that benefit the consumer in general, as well as the lack of education due to the lack of characteristics and benefits of these products.Globally,organic production according to FiBL and IFOAM shows a relationship between organic production and the development of associations of small producers and / or gatherers in Latin America, at the same time strengthening the social structures where they operate.In countries such as Colombia,Peru,Honduras and Costa Rica, certification is being encouraged with the resources of international marketers,researchers and cooperation agencies (FiBL & IFOAM, 2013) .The main markets for organic exports, which constitute approximately 85% of the production of the regions are the European Union, the United States and Japan.

For several years we tried to produce legumes in the soil, but the terrain was never favorable, even after investing in the construction of various types of eras, in the end we opted for hydroponic cultivation and the result was immediate. Annex before and after photos.

After: https://photos.google.com/u/1/...  

          https://photos.google.com/u/1/... 

Before: https://photos.google.com/u/2/... 

The agricultural strengthening plan seeks to provide quality inputs, such as certified seed for planting bananas, potatoes, platano, vegetables, and educate in the production and consumption of rabbit, to improve the productive capacity of families in the municipality, improve their conditions of life, improve income from surplus production, improve the food and nutrition indices of the rural family, improve the income of rural mothers, improve access to the means of distribution, avoiding intermediaries and creating groups associates of rural families, in addition to avoiding the migration of rural youth to the city, the rural population will be instructed in the mechanisms and techniques to create a circular economy within their plots, reusing and taking advantage of all surpluses, compost production and plastic recovery(PET) benefiting not only to the family economy, but also to the rural environment.

We currently work with 6 affiliated groups: Ecological Group "Take Care of la Chuscala" 3 members , Community Action Board "El Centenario" 6 miembros, "Open Window" Youth Group 5 members, Event Group "Evento Sur" 4 members, Ecological Group "Dream Eco" 4 members, Ecological Student Group "Nature Guardians" 240 members . These groups and their coordinated activities impact a total of 2.148 inhabitants, in local community.In one year we hope to scale the processes and serve an approximate number of 5,554 people.In 5 years we see ourselves impacting the lives of more than 50000 people, especially groups of vulnerable peasants, rural mothers heads of households, and rural youth. Our commitment to the development of agricultural pilots that are financially viable, and can serve as a replica in other municipalities of the Antioquia State and of the nation in the future.

The municipality of Caldas has a projection to June 2020 of 82,227 inhabitants according to the DANE certificate of February 2020, it has a territory of 133.07 km2, of which 93.78% (124.79Km2) corresponds to the area rural, in which 20.2% of the population (16,639 inhabitants) settles with a population density of 133.33 Hab./Km2; 2.03% (2.7Km2) is urban land, where It concentrates 79.8% of the population (65,588 inhabitants) with a population density of 24,291 rooms / km2, and 4.19% (5.58 km2) of urban expansion land. Caldas was considered a green municipality several years ago, it has a large rural area, of which only a few km are dedicated to growing food, most prefer pine cultivation for wood harvesting, the few peasants who still remain suffer Due to the pressure exerted by the large logging companies around it, it is our purpose to promote the production of food in an organic way that improves the quality and quantity of food and nutrients for this population, facilitating membership to protect themselves and obtain good prices from their surplus crops, and stimulate generational renewal in the fields of the municipality of Caldas.This experience would extend in the long term to the entire state of Antioquia, and other states in Colombia will also serve as a pilot for other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that present the same diagnosis in their rural areas.

The most important barrier and the one that affects this project with the greatest impact is closely related to the Financing of Agricultural Projects, and another important factor is related to the low capacity of the small rural farmers' union, this prevents them from competing. on equal terms with large landowner producers. Many families of small farmers have low nutrition rates and although there is no percentage record of this in the municipality, the little and poor nutrition present in rural areas of our country is known. Finally, the low remuneration that small farmers receive does not favor generational change in the Colombian countryside, and this is why the great migration of the young rural population towards large cities in search of better-paid job opportunities than the agricultural activity of their parents.

The current development plan of the municipality of Caldas,in which we participated by contributing ideas in a participatory manner,allows us to frame our agricultural strengthening plan within the current administration. However,the financial issue always affects the development of our plan, we have been presenting the proposal to the current administration through the secretary for women and the secretary for agriculture,both,even with small budgets, are willing to implement this strategy, however and foreseeing that this financing does not stop,we continue to present our agricultural strengthening plan in international calls, and looking for financial aid in the industrial and private sector. With regard to the associative issue, from Corpodil a second-level organization we shows how the association generates benefits and strengthening and having a commitment without political or economic anxieties only for the benefit of the community to help the formation of this type of rural agricultural associations. With reference to nutritional and food issues, the production of rabbit for consumption as food is being implemented high protein value within rural areas, and although the rabbit is not a highly appreciated food in our rural areas, we have connected the known sector, locating the buyers for this meat product, and alliances with SENA to educate the rural population on the good preparation and enjoyment of this type of meat as food. Together these strategies will favor the retention of rural youth in their territories, a good remuneration for surplus production, and a good improved quality of life for families in rural areas.

Full time staff: 1 General coordinator, legal representative. 4 audio visual producers.

volunteers Part time staff: 1 agricultural engineer, 1 General project leader, 1    Hidroponic leader, 4 Women Compost workers, 4 general volunteers.

Most of the volunteers have been developing Diploma studies in community social participation and environmental management techniques, soil recovery, composting techniques, collection and recovery of PET, Management and Social Innovation, management of development projects for civil society to through MOOCs of the IDB, Coursera, edX, etc. All this knowledge acquired throughout the 11 years of work of the corporation, position us as a highly recognized social entity in the development of social projects in the municipality of Caldas.

We are a non-profit, second-degree corporation with Nit: 900451813-0 made up of socially-based organizations that work in the municipality of Caldas Antioquia on participatory development management with public and private entities; executing projects at the municipal, departmental and national levels with an impact on improving decent living conditions for the communities.

Partners.

Metropolitan Area Valle de Aburra. Training and strengthening environmental issues. Composting, handling, preparing land for planting.

LaSalle University. Education. Diploma strategic development management, Diploma Social Innovation in 2016.

Autonoma Latinoamericana University. Diploma Participatory social planning of the territory in Valle de Aburra in 2018. Diploma culture and environmental education for sustainable development in the Valle de Aburra in 2019. Seminar tools for the construction of proposals for the protection and care of the environment in 2019.

Link to our Business Model plan :

Canvas Model Strengthening Agricultural Plan Caldas Antioquia Municipality.

For our corporation it is very important to have international allies, not only for their quality as donors, but for the possibility of growing in knowledge and learning from others or the same solution but with other points of view and approaches, we are always open to the possibility to listen to other cases of success and apply them to our own identity and adapt them to our territory.

Corpodil manages three business units,while being very broad,seek to be transversal to each other.This is why our approach ranges from the environmental to the financial,going through the cultural and proper of each individual as a thinking being.We seek to create a mentality of circular economy,"no waste" generated,where everything is exploited and used generating profits,we believe in changing mentality of many of farmers,preserving ancestral traditions,but generating well-being and good quality of life.We are open to the alliance with groups that range from the development of people as the center of everything,to investors aware of the need to strengthen countryside and the most needy small rural groups;open to new technologies,that promote benefits for the human being and without affecting the future ecosystem, and without demeriting our ancestral traditions,we are still willing to interact with politicians and private companies, since their deep commitment is social development for the benefit of the most needy.

Ecosomos:Ecological youth University La Salle group,educational alliance. 

Municipal botanical garden.  Alliance to bring certificated seeds to harvest and technological support.

SENA La Salada. Government educational institution, alliance for technological development of breeding, slaughter and preparation of rabbit production.

CorAntioquia y Area metropolitana. Educational alliance environmental issues and management of rural production schemes.

Aseo Caldas.Municipal entity in charge of the solid waste collection of the municipality, alliance to develop combined community-company schemes in the use of recoverable waste.

Municipal Administration Environmental Unit, Secretary for Women, Secretary for Agriculture. Participatory alliance in the development of the programs aligned with the municipality's development plan, delivery of permits and legal requirements necessary for the Agricultural Strengthening Plan project.

National and international donors. Financial alliances for the development of the pilot plan, and eventually take it to scale the nation and other nations of the World where it is required.

Corpodil Corporation since its inception has been characterized by having a greater number of women within its board and within its volunteers. It has been a constant of the corporation the high representation of the women and girls of the municipality within all the activities of the corporation, in our municipality it is common to see women as a second category person, and even more so in rural areas, Where physical and psychological abuse is frequent, our plan seeks to empower rural women and girls, to assert their rights as equals within the rural family, and to provide them with both educational and economic moral tools for their independence and to separate them from the economic bond generated by ancestral tradition, where the girl-woman depends on the man to survive.