Urban Agroecology for Food Security in Cali

Participants of the ERA of Cali started the community garden project that encourages urban agroecology and supports the food security of families in San Francisco, in the Siloé neighborhood. Among the reincorporated, community leaders and young people from the sector, activities such as the care of seedlings and seeds, the elaboration of organic fertilizers and the planting of medicinal plants are carried out. The ERA of Cali promotes community interest in urban agroecology and highlights the importance of home gardens in contexts of high economic vulnerability and violence.

The cooperative of ex-combatants COOPRIPAZ , a participant in the ERA of Cali , seeks the social and economic reincorporation of its members through projects that generate encounters with the community, and thus establish bonds of social cooperation, trust and unity in spaces highly affected by the conflict and poverty. Through urban agroecology they found various benefits for the participating families. In addition to providing food to support their food security, ecological practices are promoted to avoid the use of harmful pesticides, and planting, maintenance and harvesting activities integrate young people who learn about caring for the environment in a relationship of mutual benefit.

“We are going to unite to sow the little seed in the ground, and what are we going to reap? The union of all. We are going to break stigmas about Siloé and about those who live here,” says José Jovani Jojoa, vice president of COOPRIPAZ , to explain his proposal to consolidate an Agrotourism Corridor in the sector. The project would take advantage of tourism and agroecology to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of the sector and offer economic, cultural and security opportunities that integrate the commune 20 with the rest of the inhabitants of Cali.

This node of the Alternative Rural School of Cali has allies such as the UN Verification Mission , the World Food Program (WFP) and the Agency for Reintegration and Normalization (ARN) .