Farm sustainably, build peace: Sustainable farming in remote, conflict-ridden Putumayo in Colombia can save lives and fight violence--now more than ever.

• Author: Seltier, Evelyn
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT

Edgar Montenegro is worried about the farmers he works with in the remote region of Putumayo: getting to this part of Colombia, which borders Peru and Ecuador and is 500 km from Bogota, is already a hike on normal days. Now with COVID-19 and the country's lockdown over the past few months, the region is barely accessible. Villagers are putting up barricades because they are scared. With no hospitals around, they do not wish to risk infection.

Fear and a lack of economic opportunities have led to a return to illegal activities and violence in this already troubled region.

'The lockdown costs access to everything--you are stuck with produce that no one can come pick up and bring to town. So the farmers don't earn any money and some return to illegal coca production', says Mariana Cobo, project manager at Corpocampo NGO. 'Putumayo is an area left behind as we say here. It is time-consuming and expensive to get there. You need permits. It is a complicated situation and people are tired.'

Mariana works for family-owned natural food company Corpocampo that specializes in the production and distribution of aqai berries and palm hearts, with all products deriving from sustainable farming practices from over 500 hectares of critical rainforest in the Colombian Amazon. The goal of company founder Edgar Montenegro is to improve peoples' lives by providing a legal and reliable source of income. He therefore only employs vulnerable Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities in areas affected by violence and poverty.

The Colombian Amazon region has long been affected by the country's internal conflict, leading to widespread poverty, violence, and illegal coca crop production. Operating in several locations in Colombia, including Cauca, Narino, Valle del Cauca and Putumayo escarpments, Corpocampo has so far provided jobs for over 240 women-headed households, impacting over 1,300 families.

After winning the 2018 Oslo Business for Peace Award and joining the UN Development Programme's Business Call to Action, Corpocampo created a non-governmental sub-unit, sponsored by international donors: Corpocampo NGO.

As part of its social commitment, Corpocampo has pledged to integrate 600 new families into its acai palm value chain by the end of 2020, providing smallholder suppliers and local plant employees with sustainable livelihoods through the production of its wild-harvested natural products. The teaming of the NGO with the company seemed an ideal solution to...