In Colombia, Mesoamerica Hunger Free has contributed to the strengthening and implementation of regulatory and public policy instruments at the national and regional levels, with the aim of improving food security and nutrition and supporting processes of social and productive inclusion for smallholder, family, and community-based agriculture.
The actions promoted by the program have complemented, revitalized, and strengthened the initiatives that the FAO has launched to address the government’s priorities, particularly through the design of methodological and planning tools, the strengthening of institutional capacities, and the facilitation of dialogue among various stakeholders, with the goal of contributing to the scaling up of public policies. The contribution of Mesoamerica Hunger Free in this regard has been particularly significant in the context of implementing the Peace Accords, specifically as it relates to Comprehensive Rural Reform.
These are some of the results achieved with the program’s support
- Incorporation of a comprehensive vision of food security and nutrition and family farming into departmental action plans.
- Adoption by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Strategic Public Policy Guidelines for Smallholder, Family, and Community Agriculture.
- Development of a conceptual and methodological framework for estimating the intangible contributions of family farming.
- Consolidation of a productive-economic network as a space for social and political dialogue among associations, organizations, and social platforms involved in smallholder, family, and community agriculture.
- Development of a methodology for analyzing territorial food supply systems.
- Strengthening the capacity of small agriculture organizations and organizing business matchmaking events to facilitate their access to institutional markets.
- Design of methodological tools and formulation of Master Plans for Structural Development in priority areas for the implementation of the Comprehensive Rural Reform.
- Launch of the National School of Rural Extension and strengthening of the training offerings of the National Learning Service.
- Validation of the Rural Entrepreneurship Measurement Tool.
- Installation of rainwater harvesting and utilization systems and scaling up of this practice to help ensure access to drinking water.
- Establishment of local chapters of the Parliamentary Front Against Hunger (Antioquia, Chocó, Medellín, and Bogotá).
- Technical support for legislators at the local and national levels in the drafting and adoption of regulatory instruments related to agroecology, sustainable fisheries, and the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste, among other issues.
- Drafting and passage of the National Public Procurement Law, which establishes mechanisms to promote the participation of small-scale agricultural producers and family farmers in public food procurement markets.
- Drafting and passage of the legislative act that incorporates the human right to adequate food into the Constitution.
- Drafting and passage of the Rural Women’s Law.