Growing success in Boyacá: PWRDF supports farming project in Colombia

Boyacá is a mountainous region nestled in the Andes of central Colombia. Its geographical placement has allowed a rich and diverse economy to develop, centered primarily on agriculture, livestock production, mining industry, trade, tourism, and artisanal production. And yet, the department is one of the country’s poorest, with a poverty rate of almost 40% in 2021. This is due in part to men frequently leaving home to find work in bigger cities while cultural gender-constructs leave the region’s women – who head at least one quarter of all households – with little agency over the business, financial, and agricultural activities of family farmlands passed down through generations.

To break this cycle of poverty and insecurity and create a stronger future for Boyacá, PWRDF has renewed its partnership with the Ecumenical Church Loan Fund (ECLOF) Colombia for three years to empower small-scale farmers and micro-entrepreneurs in the region, building on the success of a previous project.

Farmers in Boyacá face dwindling and increasingly precarious income as the affects of climate change take a toll on harvests, while some currently practiced methods of farming also have negative impacts on the health of the land. The livelihoods of those living in the region are further strained by unhealthy working and living conditions from chemical fertilizers, illness due to low levels of sanitation and hygiene, unsatisfied basic needs such as water, education, and housing, and youth leaving the area in large numbers.

Over the next three years, ECLOF will strengthen the skills and competencies of 750 small farmers in rural areas of Boyacá. Through training and education in sustainable farming methods and alternative crop production, this project will encourage and assist farmers to transform their products and crops into higher value options for a continuous and adequate food supply. This project will also encourage conservation efforts and new production methods to preserve farmland for generations to come. PWRDF is proud to support this initiative with a total of $134,000 over the duration of the project.

Since the project began in January of this year, ECLOF has already seen a notable increase in awareness amongst farmers of the proper use of land, water, and the culture of recycling. Our project’s participants have been honing their skills in their field activities, allowing them to work with better organization and use of available resources. Women in the region are discovering options to develop activities in the countryside and contribute economically to their families. They are also feeding their families a healthy diet with crops grown in home gardens.

In March, PWRDF Executive Director, Will Postma, travelled to Colombia to see the project’s early successes for himself. There, he met Yolanda and her mother, farmers who are living two hours north of capital city Bogota. Through the project, Yolanda has received loans and non-financial technical assistance and training in agriculture and business.

“Yolanda has turned her garden, her chickens, her cows and her across-the-very-busy-highway field into something getting close to thriving. Yolanda uses organic manure from her cows and a very workable irrigation system with which to grow potatoes, carrots, beets, chard and corn, some for her and her mom’s consumption, some for selling at the market.” Postma says.

Since we began partnering with ECLOF Colombia in 2019, over 1,700 people have directly benefitted from ECLOF’s efforts on the ground, with an additional 8,000 benefitting by extension.

ECLOF International, the parent organization of the Colombia branch, has been serving smallholder farmers and micro entrepreneurs in rural areas for 30 years. They offer non-financial and financial products in the form of training, micro credit for working capital, fixed assets, home improvement, and education.