The Rural Alternative School (ERA) of Fonseca supports productive projects in which members of the peace signatories' cooperative COOMPAZCOL collaborate with campesinos (rural farmers) from nearby villages. The focus of these projects is food production for the region, prioritizing the food security of the participants through self-consumption and marketing the surplus. With this approach, the productive units have grown to complement each other, under the idea of circular economies, generating income and weaving bonds of trust among the participants.
Since 2018, COOMPAZCOL established a laying hen breeding project as part of its social and economic reincorporation process. This productive unit has been the basis for the financing of a varied network of agricultural projects, with which the Fonseca ERA has promoted sustainable rural growth in this community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the cooperative had an act of solidarity that changed everything:
“The project experienced its most significant growth during the pandemic when there was a surge in egg prices due to food supply issues. Despite these challenges, COOMPAZCOL kept its prices consistent and ensured that eggs were accessible not only to the reincorporated population but also to the neighboring communities," as recounted in the article published by PASO Cultivating Trust in Local Government.
This act of solidarity cemented the bonds of cooperation with the campesino community in the area. Currently, agricultural projects are being developed in the Fonseca ERA ranging from egg production, community gardens, goat breeding, to organic fertilizer production and others involving peace signatories and local families. Thanks to the diversification of production, a farm supply store was created where agricultural products produced in the ERA are sold. This commercial space has benefited the neighboring community of Conejo, which has reduced transportation costs to obtain agricultural supplies at fair prices.
Because of the growth achieved in terms of economics and trust building, professors and students from the Meyer Business on the Frontlines program at the University of Notre Dame recently visited the Fonseca ERA. Their visit taught them valuable lessons about the power of cooperation to create sustainable economic development in areas affected by armed conflict.
"The easy answer during COVID would have been to protect their community, their relatives and those with whom they had lived and fought together for 20 years; but what they said at the time was "we will not be richer than our neighbors." The leadership of this cooperative made, I believe, a truly noble decision. I now have a personal story of what moral imagination looks like and what kind of leadership is really needed to transform conflicts to a path of peace," said Viva Bartkus, faculty director of Business on the Frontlines.
Since 2022, the COOMPAZCOL cooperative has initiated a project with three production lines (beekeeping, laying hens and agricultural projects), financed by the World Food Program (WFP) and with PASO as implementing partner. This project has received technical support from the WFP and has involved 406 families in various agricultural activities. The facilities were expanded to receive 1,600 new laying hens, seed lots were delivered for planting vegetables, and beehives were installed to be worked by peace signatories.
The Fonseca ERA has very special geographic conditions. The aridity of the terrain, the scarcity of rainfall and difficult access to water are contrasted by the tropical dry forest that surrounds it. This combination results in a terrain characterized by dry soils, extended periods without precipitation, and the presence of towering wild cashew and ceiba trees that thrive on underground water sources originating from the mountains and sustaining crops, nurseries, and orchards, all of which are components of other ongoing projects in the area.
The Fonseca ERA has partners such as the UN Verification Mission, the World Food Program and the National Learning Service (SENA).
