The Government of Spain will allocate € 500,000 through ARN to strengthen ex-combatants’ coffee project in Cauca

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Café La Esperanza, the productive project for ex-combatants in the department of Cauca, will receive financial support from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, AECID. Photo: ARN Communications 

Bogotá, 07/28/2020

 

  • The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) will allocate € 500,000 thanks to the management of the National Government, as part of a strategy to position coffee production projects in the department of Cauca led by individuals in the process of reincorporation.
  • "Mesa Nacional del Café" Association which groups co-ops led by ex-combatants throughout the national territory, will also be strengthened as a space for articulation and commercial support for the generation of scale economies of its associates in the department of Cauca.

In the next few days, the Government of Spain will allocate cooperation resources in the amount of € 500,000 (COP 2.048 billion ca.) for reincorporation in Colombia.

Specifically, the resources will fund the development of strategies to strengthen coffee projects in the department of Cauca led by individuals in the process of reincorporation. In additionMesa Nacional del Café association will be promoted as a space for articulation and commercial support to generate economies of scale for its members.

"With this project, Spain reaffirms its commitment to support peacebuilding in Colombia, strengthening productive support for ex-combatants in the coffee chain in Cauca, to improve their living conditions in the process of reincorporation into civilian life" – explains Mercedes Alonso, Acting General Coordinator of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation - AECID Colombia. 

According to the international organization, the approval of this project aims to contribute to peace with legality in Colombia, the socioeconomic support of the ex-combatants of Farc-Ep and the improvement of their conditions to rejoin civilian life.

The international cooperation resources were agreed thanks to the management of the Presidential Council for Stabilization and Consolidation, and the technical support of the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN). We submitted several proposals, prioritizing on this occasion 'Café La Esperanza'. This productive project began in 2017 in the department of Cauca.

Overall, this support includes the design of the strategy for adding value and marketing of coffee produced by ex-combatants, developing capacities and skills for adding value (transformation and marketing), implementation of the strategy and business plan: provision of equipment, business rounds, inter alia.

Implementation is set for a period of 36 months, and will directly benefit 134 people associated with Ecomún la Esperanza  - Cecosespe co-op, as well as people who participate in administration, monitoring and verification committees, in addition to the training sessions within Mesa Nacional del Café association.


"Coffee is a product that has forged the development of the country, and in turn has strengthened the processes of reconciliation and Peace with Legality in all corners of Colombia. We come together once more today, to continue advancing in the productive processes that we carry out from at the level of the National Government in partnership with International Cooperation,"  said Andrés Stapper, ARN Director General.

The formulation process was developed jointly between the Agency for Reincorporation and Standardization (ARN), the working team at Ecomún La Esperanza (Cecoespe) Co-op, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Technological Park for Coffee Innovation and Coffee culture - Tecnicafé.  

New scenarios of reconciliation and legal peace are opened in the territories thanks to this project. This goes to show the commitment of the National Government to the reincorporation process and the support of International Cooperation, to guarantee that ex-combatants of Farc-Ep have access to economic sustainability. 
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