Aiming a blow at narcos in Colombia
Farmers Alirio Caicedo and his son Nicolas are among the beneficiaries of the government scheme. A decade ago they planted an expanse of coca as they staked their future on the continued patronage of criminal gangs. Today, they are uprooting the crops and hoping for the best
The Caicedos and some 4,000 other Colombian families have agreed to replace their coca with alternative crops such as cocoa and coffee amid a government scheme
It is part of a $14.4m project to reduce supply of a product blamed for untold misery in a country where armed groups force rural communities to grow coca and raze forests for its cultivation
The project seeks to eradicate coca production on 45,000 hectares in three of Colombia's most conflict-riddled regions, including the southwestern Micay Canyon where the Caicedos family ply their trade in the Argelia municipality
For farmers it is a risk. They cannot be sure that their new plantations – coffee in the Caicedos' case – will succeed, or that guerrillas and other groups whose income depend on cocaine sales will leave them in peace
'When one is planting a coca plant, there is hope that in time there will be a harvest and there will be some income,' said Nicolas Caicedo. 'Uprooting the plants means that there will be no more harvests in other words, no more money,' from coca at least
Alirio Caicedo and a sack of dried coffee beans. With coca, the Caicedos said they were guaranteed an income of about $800 a month. They have received an initial payment of about $300 under the project to grow coffee, with more to come
But another farmer, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said he doubted the project could work in areas such as Argelia where illegal groups outnumber the state in terms of fighters and guns. 'No armed group that lives off [coca] is going to want a farmer to stop growing coca and switch to coffee,' he said
Farmers Nicolas and Alirio show coffee beans and coca leaves at their plantation. Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first-ever leftist president, took office in 2022 with the goal of extricating his country from the US-led 'war on drugs' blamed for double-victimisation of rural Colombians already living under the yoke of violent criminal groups
Cocaine production in Colombia – the world's biggest exporter of the drug – reached record levels as demand continues to grow in Europe and the US, the principal consumer Photograph: Juan Restrepo/AFP/Getty Images
Several previous attempts to get Colombian coca producers to change crops have failed as armed groups caused havoc and government payments and other assistance eventually dried up
Colombian soldiers and policemen stand guard in a street in Argelia
Gloria Miranda, who heads Colombia's illegal crop substitution programme, cautioned that it would be naive to believe the new initiative could end drug trafficking 'as long as there is a market of 20 million consumers and it (cocaine) remains illegal'
President Petro has sought to negotiate with armed groups, meaning fewer military operations and the abandonment of forced coca eradication, but talks have mostly broken down, and the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House in January has ramped up pressure on Bogóta
Argelia's secretary of government, Pablo Daza, poses for a picture in Argelia, Cauca department. With high stakes for its crop replacement gamble, observers fear the government may be taken advantage of. Some farmers may 'try to deceive' by taking the money while continuing to grow coca, said Daza
Coffee and coca leaf farmer Alirio Caicedo. Used not only for cocaine, the coca leaf is also chewed as a stimulant in Andean countries or brewed into a tea thought to combat altitude sickness
Aerial view of Argelia. Colombia's appeals for the leaf to be removed from a UN list of harmful narcotics so it can be commercialised in alternative products such as fertilisers or beverages, have so far fallen on deaf ears
Photograph: Juan Restrepo/AFP/Getty Images
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