#FeedPeace in Rural Colombia

A community of peace-builders supported by PASO Colombia has been violently forced from their home. They are currently rebuilding in a new location far from the coffee plantations that made them dream of peace.
 
We have started a GoFundMe campaign to help them rebuild their lives. This campaign will provide the frame and machinery needed to build an animal feed production facility that will promote the sustainable development of the surrounding farming communities as well as their own. Our partner, Bay-Build foundation, is hosting the fundraiser as well as providing the design of the metal frame to be used for this facility. PASO Colombia will support the whole process on the field with technical assistance.

Why an Animal Feed Production Facility?

It is very difficult for Colombian rural farmers to obtain a return on their product that is consistent with their enormous effort. The primary challenge is the high cost of industrial animal feed. Paramillo’s natural feed facility will provide cheaper, healthier, and environmentally friendly food for fish farming and livestock. It will also do much more:

• Create jobs along the entire natural feed production supply chain.
• Decrease waste by using raw materials that used to be discarded.
• Provide financial independence by cutting out third-party industrial feed suppliers.
• Reduce production costs by being 35% cheaper than the price of industrial feed. 
• Spread the wealth by increasing the profitability of projects developed by other farming communities in the region.
• Increase the health of the animals, which normally feed on chemically treated feed.
• Reduce their carbon footprint by eliminating the import of feed from distant locations.
• Encourage collaboration by acting as a central node for local farmers and other nearby ex-combatant communities.
• Provide a launchpad for other humanitarian and educational efforts in the area.
• Change the paradigm as a success story that will promote alternative economies to illicit crops elsewhere in Colombia.

This facility is the first of many investments that will benefit the community and strengthen efforts for sustainable agriculture throughout rural Colombia.

How Will Your Contribution Be Used?

The money raised through this fundraising campaign will be used to:

1. Give them a floor to work on - Cement slab and foundation: USD $2,000
2. Give them structure to build on - Metal frame, provided by the Bay-Build Foundation: USD $5,000
3. Give them shelter to protect them from the elements - Metal roofing: USD $1,000
4. Give them tools to do their work - Machinery required to produce natural feed: USD $4,000

PASO Colombia’s contribution: PASO Colombia is a program of One Earth Future that mobilizes the local intelligence and resources of remote rural communities, and connects it to national and international institutional knowledge, capital, and markets. It is currently supporting the implementation of the Peace Agreement in 20 locations across the Colombian territory. This is the case of the Rural Alternative School (ERA) of Ituango , a platform from which PASO has supported the coffee production and commercialization efforts of the COOPEMPRENDER cooperative of former combatants and the farmers with whom they founded Paramillo.
 
Now PASO Colombia will provide training and technical support for the members of the community who will produce the natural feed.

Through the Rural Alternative School (ERA) of Communication, PASO trained members of Paramillo to create the audiovisual content for this campaign, as well as the material that goes with it on social media. The ERA of Communication project won a grant from the Imagining Our Image 2020 (INI, as per its Spanish acronym) Program of the Ministry of Culture.

Bay-Build’s contribution: Bay-Build’s mission is to increase global access to strong, reliable shelter. To do so, we offer a prefabricated framing system that can be assembled in a matter of hours. These frames can be fabricated using industry-standard equipment in over 100 countries around the world. We partner with regional non-profit organizations to provide targeted support that is guided by the local community. We are currently building in Colombia, supporting the construction of sustainable farming communities. Bay-Build will provide the design and shipment of the metal structure, as well as the logistics and administration for this fundraising campaign.

Members of PARAMILLO are telling their story to raise awareness of the struggle for peace in Colombia. They worked with PASO Colombia to create the communication contents for this campaign, along with the renowned artist Edgar Álvarez, known for his project “Shall I explain it with clay?”