A people-centered approach to territorial development
Peace through cooperative initiatives, the experience of Colombia’s rural municipality of Caldono
FAO Colombia, in the framework of an agreement with the Territorial Renewal Agency (ART in Spanish), implemented a Territorial Approach to Development Program (PDET) in the municipality of Caldono, which achieved excellent results in promoting economic recovery and strengthening associativity and social cohesion in a territory affected by more than three decades of armed conflict. Working directly with more than a thousand rural families, through four indigenous and five rural organizations, the program has managed to balance different interests in an unprecedented process of social integration and territorial development. By promoting the production of four main products to meet market demand — coffee, natural fibre (fique), panela cane sugar and blackberry — and using a territorial value chain strategy, the program facilitated the revitalization of the local economy, with sales totalling over USD 1 million in 2019, while protecting the social, cultural and environmental sustainability of the territory. In addition, it promoted collaboration and horizontal integration among all the actors to ensure the sustainability of the development process.