GLA Supports Post-Conflict Towns in Colombia on Tenure Security and Enhancing Livelihood

Ovejas is a small, rural town in the Sucre department of Colombia, which is situated on the northern Caribbean coast. The majority of the land in this area has historically been used for agricultural purposes and, furthermore, has experienced decades of armed conflict, illicit crop cultivation, tenure insecurity, and forced displacement. Today, Ovejas and other rural areas in the region are moving towards a post-conflict context via various initiatives including the promotion of licit agribusiness models in addition to the formalization of land parcels.

GLA is supporting the USAID Colombia’s Land For Prosperity Program is developing an innovative agribusiness pilot project that would benefit newly titled smallholder farmers in Ovejas. Thus, in February 2022, Gregorio Posada of GLA’s partner Development and Growth Analytics and GLA’s Christina Kuntz traveled to Ovejas and the neighboring city of Sincelejo in order to better understand the socio-cultural context and meet with possible stakeholders. In-person meetings took place with: local municipal government officials, the Agency of Rural Development, the Agency of Territorial Renovation, the Land Restitution Unit, the Agrarian Bank, private sector actors, members of an indigenous community, local farmers' associations, and individual farmers and their families, among others.

This trip helped GLA better understand the precarious living conditions and infrastructure throughout much of rural Ovejas in addition to the ongoing challenge of formalizing land, in particular rural parcels that could be used for agriculture. Furthermore, GLA was able to better understand existing small farmers' organizations and their current business model in addition to potential crops and stakeholders that could be included in the Land for Prosperity program's potential pilot.

Stay in touch with GLA’s website and social media for further information about this ongoing work.