Rural Poverty Is Still a Scar on the Soul of Colombia, but a New Program Supporting Agri-Entrepreneurship Can Help Heal the Wounds

The objectives for entrepreneurship include an alliance to enhance the development and productivity of rural Colombia, promoting a productive transformation with more innovation, increased labour and business formalization, and better public goods and services. Framed within this overall response, the Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has launched a new program, “El Campo Emprende” [Rural areas are enterprising], that benefits small producers, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, female heads of household, young people, and in general vulnerable families in the rural sector of the country, promoting economic ventures to reduce extreme poverty. Beneficiaries of El Campo Emprende in Santiago de Quilichao, Cauca, presenting details of their Association for textile manufacturing. Credit: J. Quintana/IFAD El Campo Emprende, with a total cost of US$ 70 million over six years, assists more than 36 000 families living in 134 rural municipalities of 20 departments, including the worst affected areas by the armed conflict, where trust and social capital have been destroyed, basic services are scarce, and where vulnerability is high. The program seeks to strengthen associative processes around productive initiatives – agricultural production, handicrafts, tourism, green businesses and other rural services carried out by poor rural families, promoting and financing the creation of rura...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Aid Armed Conflicts Crime & Justice Economy & Trade Featured Food & Agriculture Gender Headlines Health Human Rights Indigenous Rights Inequity Labour Latin America & the Caribbean Peace Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nati Source Type: news