CPTnet
30 December 2006

COLOMBIA: Why do small farmers cultivate coca?

by Julian Gutierrez Castaño

translated by Irene Erin Kindy

Mr. Didier has a small farm and primarily raises plantains. Once a month he
goes to the county seat, three hours from the nearby town, to sell his crop.
On average, he harvests just 1,250 pounds of plantain per month. At the end
of a month of work, transporting his crop and buying supplies, Mr. Didier
has earned $95.00 U.S., with which he must meet the needs of his wife and
six children.

Mr. Argemiro grows corn. Every six months he takes is harvest to sell in
town. The harvest is around 100 bushels and with a little luck, he will
make a total of $475.00 U.S., discounting costs for supplies and
transportation. With this money, his family of seven will have to survive
for the next six months.

Mr. Genaro cultivates beans and twice a year brings in his harvest. Every
six months he hopes to sell about forty bushels and make $500.00 U.S., which
will have to last until the next harvest. He supports his wife, eight
children and two grandchildren.

Mr. Didier, Mr. Argemiro and Mr. Genaro are small farmers that my CPT
teammate Michele Braley and I met in the community of Corcovado in the
southern part of the department [province] of Bolivar. In the area where
they live, some farmers cultivate coca. None of them cultivates more than a
hectare. Twice a year, the Colombian government arrives in the zone, not to
fix the road, nor to supply the health center with much needed medical
equipment, or build a high school, which the region lacks, but to fumigate
the coca with glyphosate. The fumigations rarely fall on their targets.
Instead, winds blow the chemical over the yucca, cacao, plantain, corn and
bean crops, ruining months of work and the economy of already struggling
small farmers.

Why do small farmers cultivate coca? Farmers do not cultivate it because
they want to make themselves rich overnight or because they are lazy. I
have not met any rich coca growers in Southern Bolivar. They get up at 5:00
a.m. and go to bed at 9:00 p.m. after working at least ten hours. With a
hectare of coca, a small farmer can make $500.00 U.S. every three months,
after figuring in supplies, transportation and "taxes" to the armed forces,
paramilitaries and guerrillas.

Small farmers cultivate coca because legal crops are not profitable. These
crops do not make a profit because the Colombian government has ignored the
needs of the rural communities of Colombia and the national and
international economic structures will not pay a fair price. I find it
absurd that the Colombian and U.S. governments are neither improving the
conditions of production, transport and sale of legal crops nor attempting
to reduce the demand for cocaine. The current economic situation provides
incentive for small farmers to grow coca, the only crop that will give them
a margin of income sufficient to meet their basic needs.