El Retorno al Campo, un Camino hacia la Paz
Construct integrated commu/y self-sustained farms for adults,by means of the purchase of lands for use of agriculture,using a system of programmed saving. A farm is a firm formed by senior citizens,who have been unemployed by globa/ion,violence,among other factors,who organize themselves to acquire lands in an associative manner to cultivate food to reach feeding autonomy & commercialize excess.
About You
Section 1: About You
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Organization Name
Fundacion Agroclub El Retorno al Campo
Organization Website
Organization Phone
571 4722927
Organization Address
Transv.28 A No. 37 -61
Organization Country
Colombia, CAM
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Your idea
Name your project.
El Retorno al Campo, un Camino hacia la Paz
Describe Your Idea
Construct integrated commu/y self-sustained farms for adults,by means of the purchase of lands for use of agriculture,using a system of programmed saving. A farm is a firm formed by senior citizens,who have been unemployed by globa/ion,violence,among other factors,who organize themselves to acquire lands in an associative manner to cultivate food to reach feeding autonomy & commercialize excess.
Country your work focuses on
Colombia, CAM
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
The innovative aspect if your idea
a. It establishes exploitation systems of the lands in individual and collective manners in such a way that the people that make up the farms can count with the food for their own subsistence and the excess to commercialize. In this process the participants are prepared for the stage of retirement, the third stage, etc. and the lands are recuperated for national production and are constituted as a pilot program for the trasmition of popular knowledge.
b. A process of repopulation of the rural areas with senior citizens is initiated.
d. All the family is involved in the process.
e. An inter-generational relation is constituted, given that the popular wisdom is transmitted from the grandfather to the grandchild. The cultural traditions are taken care of.
f. The environment is protected as well as the health given the clean and organic production. Environmental areas are created as ecological reserves. It is an example of a harmonic Biodiversity area in harmony with social issues.
g. A new type of self sufficient and solidarity society is constructed.
h. Peace nuclei are established in areas which are lashed by violence and the problems is prevented by the cause of ageing of the population and the bankruptcy of the pension and social security systems.
What makes it different from other ideas?
In terms of what is different with the approached that have been developed before the following can be highlighted:
1º.- There is no official policy on ageing. There are very few private and official institutions working on the issue of pensions, retirements, third age and ageing.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
With this initiative we aim at a transformative change, a system that combines what has been done previously given that:
a) The program has demonstrated that only with older people can a process of repopulation start in the Colombian field, given that the young population has no employment opportunities and political violence, they start being part of a group of actors in conflict, guerilla, para-military and military. The young man that has left the field does not go back because he knows the advantages of living in the city.
b) It has been demonstrated that the peace nuclei, or villages or farms are constituted by means of very safe programs that have not been victims of the guerrilla or the para-military.
c) It has been demonstrated that the program avoids and diminishes the state assistance that is what has always been done, with senior citizens and the violence; the program makes them self sustained and gives them back their self esteem.
d) A preventive system is applied against misery, which is what the State has never done.
e) It has promoted and developed a culture of self sustained feeding with the production of clean food.
Problem
Lack of seed capital to purchase land and development of productive projects. At the same time the largest problem is the situation of public order, that is the armed conflicto that is present in Colombia. We must also mention the problem that young people have been displaced to the big cities. That is why we have organized the senior citizens which are the ones that most suffer the displacement, as well as the women and children.
Another problem is the rural unemployment. As a result of the forms, employment is generated for those that do not leave the farms.
Actions
Organize a system of programed saving to stimulate the cultura of saving with a specific destination (purchase of land)
The system that we have proposed as innovative revolves around putting together the interests of the affected parts given the laco of land where:
A.- The people that want the land;
B.- It is a land owner that wants to sell his land;
C.- It is a financial entity that provides credit to purchase the land;
D.- The management operates as the organizer between the three previous actors;
K.- It is an intef¿grated community which is self sustained where K = (A + B + C)+ D
Given that it has been difficult for the banks to loan them money, we have managed to get the land owners to act as funders.
A community form is integrated by all the participants and the firm requires a common land. The land is then divided in four sectors: -Individual Area - 2.Collective Area (collective productive) 3.-Social Area (Recreation and social actors) and 4.-Enviromental Area (wáter and forest reserves )
Results
1200 family groups have been organized to prevent war;
Managed to return to the countryside when displaced by violence, and generate social development areas around the farms:
Family groups have been re united;
Incidence in public policy on issues on land rights and ageing population;
The program has results in an unemployment pension as well as the generation of means of production for the young farmers, hence avoiding the exodus to the city.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
If so, how?
Incidence in the development of the Law on Agricultural Reform and establishment of a new credit line for agricultural use;
Formulation of recommendations for the ageing policy in Colombia;
Proposition of alternatives to the migration issues from rural to urban areas;
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your innovation.
We have alliances with the Universidad de Los Andes; cooperatives; funds of employees; among others, for trainings, places to deliver trainings and conferences to motivate people to participate from our programs.
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
The initiative is self sustained with the support of the associated investors for the purchasing of the lands, as well as the development of a business plan for each farm- which entails financial conditions and financial returns.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
As the president of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Acerias paz del Rio I realized that the workers that had been displaced from the rural life and that no longer were part of the pension system entered a time of depresión and suicide, given the lack of preparation. At the same time, because they were the victim of displacement due to political violence in Colombia, I developed the initiative to re launch the rural life. More information can be found in www.ashoka.org
Tell us about the social innovator—the person—behind this idea.
I am a social innovator born in Vélez Departamento de Santander , Colombia , in 1.940. Victim of the displacement forced by the political violence. Mi family abandoned our lands and we came to live to Bogotá. Those were very hard times but we managed to survive and helped others fulfill their dreams. I studied pharmaceutics at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and worked at the Chemical Lab Acerias Paz del Rio and was President of the Sindicato de Trabajadeores de of the firm at their factory in Belencito. I am married to Maria Luisa Higuera and have four children and five grand children. I developed systems of housing construction, with innovative community systems. I organized the first Municipal de Acciones Comunales de Colombia.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Newsletter from Changemakers
If through another source, please provide the information.
No más de 50 palabras
Additional
Which (if any) of the following strategies apply to your organization or company (check as many as apply)
Formalizing and documenting property rights (i.e. titling, leasing or certification), Legal education and awareness, Developing/applying technology for surveying, mapping and documenting property rights.
Please explain how your work furthers one or many of the above strategies (if you selected “other”, please explain your strategy)
Our program promotes the formulation of public policies to facilitate the access to the property of land, by means of self financing and solidarity. At the same time it increases the innovative system of collective property and individual use. We have capacity building to spread experienced and learn about legal methods.
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