Overview

The Cesar department, in the north of Colombia, is made up of three distinct landscapes: large stretches of savanna, the Sierra Nevada mountains and dry forests and tropical humid forests.

The multi-stakeholder partnership in Cesar includes the municipalities of Agustin Codazzi, Becerril, la Jagua de Ibirico, Chiriguana  that together sum up an area of 484.888 ha. Approximatly 39% of the area is suitable for agricultural production and 11,8% has potential for agroforestry and protection. The area counts with a native forest cover of 34.671. These municipalities are economically driven by mining, which represnts aproximately 40% of the regional GDP. However the region is starting a transition process from a coal based economy towards a sustainable one, given more relevance to the agriculture and cattle ranching as innovative and inclusive activities for this transition.

Main commoditties of this territory, apart from mining, are palm oil, dairy and beef production. Other commodities, incluidng fruits, coffee and cocoa, have emerged as alternatives to support the transition. On economic diversification, the Embassy of the Netherlands has been an important partner for the region, along with companies like Nestlé, Alqueria and Yara.

Learn more about the PPI approach in Colombia here.