Colombia
Context
Colombia joined the FFF in 2024 as a network country.
The FFF operates in the Pacific region (Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Nariño) and Andean regions (Boyacá, Huila, Antioquia) of Colombia. It strengthens Indigenous, Afro-descendant, smallholder and rural women’s organizations, promoting their inclusion in sustainable enterprises and the governance of natural resources. FFF-supported activities revitalizing ancestral knowledge, formalizing territorial rights to enable communities to engage in policy discussions, building business incubation skills, promoting agroforestry and land restoration, climate resilience and deforestation-free production.
A particular focus in Colombia is mangrove restoration. With FFF support, producers have implemented responsible harvesting practices of mangrove cockles (piangua) – a seafood prized for its culinary value. The project is directly linked to mangrove conservation and restoration and increases the territory’s climate resilience, as mangroves act as a natural barrier against coastal erosion and extreme weather events.
In 2025, the FFF supported eight forest and farm producer organizations in Colombia. This represents 806 households.
Contacts
Coach:
[email protected]
Facilitator:
[email protected]
Products
Key products cultivated include cocoa, coffee and açaí berries.
These are processed into items including chocolate, roast coffee and frozen pulp which fetch a higher price than raw products.
Other products include timber, honey, vacuum-packed mangrove cockles, and woven hats, bags and baskets made from natural fibres (such as tetera and chocolatillo), incorporating cultural patterns such as the golden frog and turtle.
Highlights
- Preserving ancestral knowledge
Sharing and documenting traditional practices ensures ancestral wisdom remains alive and is put into practice by generations to come. With FFF support, intercultural training processes have conserved knowledge about cocoa cultivation in Las Varas, the use of piangua clams in Chocó, and fique fibre weaving in Boyacá, giving young people ownership of their future.
- Resilience and restoration
FFF-supported land restoration integrates local knowledge and modern techniques. Successes include restoring mangroves in the Pacific region led by Afro-descendant communities, implementing demonstration plots for agroforestry systems and syntropic farming (which mimics the natural forest) in Boyacá, and promoting community forestry for legal timber production in the Serranía de San Lucas mountain range.
- Strengthening social services
With support from the FFF, Indigenous and rural women producer organizations in Cauca who make sustainable handicrafts and speciality coffee are promoting access to social and cultural services to their members. This ensures organizations not only generate income, but also strengthen the social fabric and collective wellbeing of their families.