Growing the future of La Guajira, Colombia
Different ethnic groups took part in the training in Guayabal including the Wayúu people, the country’s largest indigenous group, as well as Afro-descendants and Venezuelan migrants.
Another FAO trainee, Fidelia Pana, is a teacher, a farmer and a community leader in Guayabal, a village facing similar challenges to that of Montelara. ©FAO/Justine Texier
Alina Arieta sits in front of her wooden hut, opposite a field of beans. The 50-year-old farmer worries that the soil is too dry and that this harvest will be a bad one.
With 300 other families, Alina and her four kids, live in the village of Montelara, in Colombia’s La Guajira, where they depend on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods.
Situated 1 000 kilometers north of the country’s capital, Bogota, La Guajira is Colombia’s northernmost province. It is dry and arid with desert landscapes. The region is also particularly prone to drought. Between the arid land and extreme weather events, it is difficult for people to grow crops and rear livestock, and as a result, communities, especially in rural areas, are vulnerable to food insecurity.
Colombian-born, Alina, moved back to La Guajira after living in Venezuela for 30 years. She recalls her life over there, where she ran a business and lived comfortably until the economic crisis.
“We decided to leave Venezuela because of the reasons that everybody knows, due to the current economic situation … That’s why I am now back in Colombia,” she said.
In recent years, the economic crisis in neighboring Venezuela has pushed more than one million people across the Colombian border, including 165 000 people into La Guajira, the country’s most vulnerable region. The influx of migrants further stretches the already limited resources, weakening food security.