The state of Chocó, in northwestern Colombia, is one of the rainiest spots in the world, a jungle haven with high biodiversity. Bordering both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, this natural resource-rich state is also marked by some of the highest poverty rates in the country. It is to this unique region that colonizers brought African slaves to work in mines and haciendas some five centuries ago. Chocó is also home to the Embera and other indigenous groups.
Today, Afro-Colombians and the Embera live a primarily subsistence lifestyle, basing their economy on agriculture, fishing, forestry, and small-scale cattle ranching. These groups face a difficult set of challenges in a region marked by violence from the drug trade and increasing degradation from bio-fuel production. Global Greengrants Fund is supporting the Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities as they advocate for community and land rights and promote sustainable alternatives to the devastating impacts of coca trade and palm oil.
Challenges for Rural Populations
Colombia has one of the largest internally-displaced populations in the world–close to four million citizens. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and paramilitary groups like the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) have been waging a war for decades – a war whose impacts are felt especially by rural communities, who make up 30% of Colombia’s population, with few options to defend themselves. At the heart of the conflict is Colombia’s drug trade, and the money and power that are involved in controlling the production of coca for cocaine to export around the world – especially to the United States.
The problems associated with cocaine production are many. One of the most devastating for rural populations has been the intensive aerial fumigations of coca plantations, carried out by the Colombian government with support of U.S. funds as part of the anti-drug war “Plan Colombia”. The fumigations are poorly aimed and often kill food crops, and contaminate soils and waters with volatile chemicals.
More recently, the growth of African palm oil plantations for bio-fuel production has led to a new set of challenges. Ironically, the Colombian government has promoted the cultivation of these massive plantations as a way to eradicate illicit crops, and to promote peaceful employment in Chocó. However, the plantations have resulted in forced displacement, the destruction of land and water, and led to new conflicts. The oil palm agro-industry is linked to paramilitary groups, while the illicit coca cultivation is tied to opposing armed insurgent groups. Rural Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities are caught in a dangerous web between two violent forces, both of which trying to control their territory and natural resources.
Oil palm production threatens food security, as the best places for food production – used for generations by Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples – are also the best for palm cultivation, and communities are pushed off of their crop lands to make way for the palms. Its cultivation also contributes to climate change, as a result of the CO2 emissions caused by burning forests to make way for the plantations. The African palm is a major bio-fuel source around the world, and its corporate-controlled cultivation is affecting communities in tropical regions from Asia to the Americas. For more on the impacts of palm oil production from Friends of the Earth, click here.
Advocating for Rights: Navigating Risky Waters
Challenging paramilitaries and palm oil corporations is a very dangerous endeavor. In Chocó, Afro-Colombians are being assassinated for taking a strong stance to keep their lands free from both oil palm monoculture and coca production for the drug trade. A Greengrants grantee, the Community Council of the Lower Mira and Frontera, has been on the front lines of this struggle. In 2008, two of their leaders were assassinated for their work to protect their lands. Felipe Landazury, the General Secretary of the Council, was kidnapped and killed on June 24, 2008 just after taking a tour of the collective territory as part of a process to organize its residents. Armenio Cortes, 46, another Council leader, was shot and killed on October 7, 2008 as he returned home from a Council meeting. Their loss has been felt deeply by the Afro-Colombian civil rights movement.
Greengrantsí advisor in Colombia, Libia Grueso, explained the critical situation for the Afro-Colombian leaders in Chocó. Libia notes, “There have been more than 200 assassinations formally reported since the 1990s. Lately, the terror is worse than ever and is escalating.”
The situation for indigenous groups is similarly devastating. An April 2009 New York Times article highlighted stories told by rural residents of recent beatings, murders, and rapes carried out by armed groups in Chocó. Click here to access the article.
Leading the Way for Solutions
While the Afro-Colombians and indigenous populations are often at the mercy of more powerful interests, a movement is building to stand up for their rights and advocate for safe and sustainable futures for their homes and families.
Global Greengrants Fund makes small grants to many indigenous- and Afro-led groups in Chocó and other states in Colombia to support their efforts in promoting alternatives to bio-fuel production and educating communities about natural resource management. This process of education and training builds stronger links among communities and creates a solid platform for advocating for the human rights of these marginalized populations.
Our work in Colombia gains tremendous value through the contributions of our phenomenal volunteer grantmaking advisor there, Libia Grueso. Libia, a social worker and co-founder of the Process of Black Communities, is one of the most prominent intellectual-activists in the Afro-Colombian civil rights movement. In the early 1990s, together with other movement leaders, she led a campaign that secured more than 5.9 million acres in territorial rights for Colombia’s black rural communities. For these efforts, she won the esteemed Goldman Environmental Prize – akin to the Nobel Peace Prize for environmentalists ó in 2004.
The organizations that Libia recommends for funding in Colombia are focused on promoting the rights of Afro-Colombian and indigenous peoples, with appropriate local solutions and participation. For example, Association for the Integrated Promotion, Development, and Defense of the Black Kasimba Communities received a $5,000 grant to hold a series of workshops to build environmental awareness among local youth, and to carry out a native species reforestation project with youth participation. This organization works with Afro-Colombian communities in the Valle del Cuaca region to promote sustainable development projects.
The Corporation for the Development of Ethno-educational, Socio-cultural, Economic, and Environmental Research, with support from Greengrants, is building awareness among Afro-Colombian communities about the environmental threats posed by the palm oil development. Their work is focusing on the municipalities of Timbiqui and Guapi, which are under significant pressure to establish palm plantations on traditional lands.
A recent grant to the Center for Pacific Regional Studies is assessing the conditions of the Embera Katio indigenous communities along the Pacific coast to assist them in acquiring the legal title to their indigenous lands – often the first step in ensuring the long-term survival of indigenous communities. A $5,000 grant from Greengrants is supporting the Center in working with community members to a development committee, an environmental committee, and a cultural committee to promote sustainable development and defend their rights.
Groups like these are well-positioned to work with and for Afro-Colombian and indigenous peoples. The emphasis is on appropriate local education and training, and building the long-term capacity of rural communities to advocate for their rights and implement effective sustainable development plans. From environmental education workshops, to native tree plantings, to marches for their rights, these leaders are slowly creating a space for public participation for communities that the Colombian government has long disregarded. While the challenges are tremendous – and activists can pay with their livesóthe commitment of these leaders is phenomenal. One village at a time, they are paving the way for a much brighter future for those who suffer the most under Colombia’s turbulent and violent conditions.
To see some of the impacts of the drug war first hand, watch this video by Witness for Peace.