Colombia advances in the implementation of the Produce, Protect and Include Pacts in three Departments
The IDH team of Colombia and the CREER Foundation held face-to-face workshops to conclude, together with local actors, the objectives and indicators of the PPI (Produce, Protect and Include) Pacts of the departments of Magdalena, Cesar and Huila. Taking into account the biosecurity protocols of each region, the workshops brought together actors from private, public and civil organizations who had the opportunity to prioritize objectives and propose monitoring indicators. In the end, it was possible to consolidate and validate this information, which will guide the implementation of the pacts in the coming years.
During the workshops, the dialogues with the different actors revolved around issues such as increasing and maintaining the productivity of the main commodities in the region, strengthening and complementing technical assistance with education and innovation programs, water management, and, inclusion strategies for smallholder farmers (diversification, education, access to credit, gender strategies).
According to the leader of the cocoa farmers of Huila, Orlando Escobar, the objectives and indicators discussed during the workshops bring together the interests and visions of all the actors in the department around a truly sustainable development in the region. "Exercises like this to jointly validate a vision of the territory are important for the empowerment of local, regional and national actors," Escobar said.
The Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for each Compact should be signed in the coming weeks, initiating the implementation phase of the "Post-Pact" with the definition of the governance and monitoring process and an action plan.
The Steering Committee of the AgroColombia Productive and Sustainable Initiative evaluates progress in the implementation of the PPI Pacts
The Steering Committee of the Agrocolombia Productive and Sustainable Initiative, led by IDH, met in July with the aim of evaluating the progress of the Initiative's actions, mainly around the construction of the PPI Pacts and the involvement of actors in the SourceUp platform.
"We hope that these three pacts will be an example of sustainable sourcing in Colombia and that they can be replicated in other departments," said Mathew Spencer, IDH's Global Director of Landscapes, acknowledging the importance of partners' engagement in this process.
The representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Daniel Arboleda, reinforced support for the Initiative for the Achievement of Sustainability Goals in Colombia's Agricultural Sector. "Thanks to the collaboration of important private and public actors, we are making progress in areas such as environmental sustainability, economic opportunities and food security," he said.
The SourceUp platform was presented by Antonio Roade, who explained the connection of the Compacts with global markets through this tool that makes sustainability commitments visible in production chains, in addition to supporting the capture of resources and additional investments from different stakeholders. The participants of the meeting affirmed that SourceUp will be an opportunity to recognize the efforts of each region, promoting the work of AgroColombia.
Also participating in the meeting were representatives of: Alqueria, Nestlé, Alpina, ProColombia, the Ministry of the Environment, TNC, Corpohass, Fedepalma, Bayer, Casa Luker and the Colombian Association of Producers. To learn more about the Agrocolombia Productive and Sustainable Initiative, go to the site here.