Increase in coca planting in Colombia reflects changes in government strategies

Colombia has recorded an increase in coca leaf crops, reaching a new record of 253,000 hectares, with an increase of 10% compared to the figures reported the previous year, according to data from the United Nations Office against Crime. Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

This increase has coincided with a change in the policy of the government of President Gustavo Petro, which has modified the eradication strategy to focus on the seizure of drugs and the dismantling of the most profitable drug trafficking networks.

Causes of crop increase

The increase in hectares cultivated with coca can be attributed, according to analysts, to poverty and the lack of viable economic alternatives for farmers in regions affected by violence. The marked presence of different armed groups has led many communities to depend on coca production as a means of subsistence.

The implementation of the Comprehensive National Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops (PNIS) has faced obstacles. Since its launch, after the signing of the peace agreement in 2016 between the Colombian government and the dissolved FARC guerrilla, it has suffered delays in the delivery of incentives and promises of alternative development, which has generated distrust among growers.

“Replacing coca cultivation should be done with other products, but only if there are guarantees that these products will have a long-term result, and that is what has not been possible to achieve historically. This government is expected to do so, but hasn’t started yet,” he explained to Voice of America Ana María Rueda, researcher at the Ideas for Peace Foundation (FIP).

“The replacement program, which is the PNIS, did not meet the proposed goals and had many delays. As a result, many families did not receive the promised components and had to replant coca,” he added.

Government strategy

President Petro’s recent announcement about the purchase of coca leaves in El Plateado, a coca-growing enclave in Cauca, seeks to offer an immediate income to farmers.

However, it raises questions about the sustainability of this strategy. While the purchase can be seen as a temporary relief, support for alternative crops requires a long-term commitment and the construction of infrastructure and markets that support this transition, according to the analysts consulted by the VOA.

“It is an initiative that arrives a couple of years late. Two years ago, when the coca market was facing its worst crisis, it would have been the perfect time to implement it,” commented César Páez, teacher and researcher on drug trafficking and transnational crime. and international security at the Externado University of Bogotá.

For Páez, the proposal could “generate frustration among growers because the State has a long history of projects that try to convince people to stop growing coca, but the State does not comply, or does so partially or very late.”

“This creates great difficulties for farmers to survive, since they depend on coca crops as their source of income. When the State does not comply, a lot of frustration and skepticism arises, and drug traffickers end up buying their crops,” he added.

What is happening with eradication

The Colombian government has pivoted efforts to combat drug trafficking, focusing on the seizure of cocaine leaving the country. In 2023, confiscation figures reached 739 tons, which represents a significant increase compared to the 659 tons seized in 2022.

However, the UNODC report reveals that cocaine production in Colombia reached 2,664 tons, a figure that contrasts with seizure records.

For experts, the Colombian government continues to face the challenge of balancing the fight against drugs with the need to provide real alternatives to farmers.

“We are in a government that decided not to eradicate, but to work hand in hand with the farmers, but so far a specific development model that helps overcome dependence on coca is not being implemented,” said Rueda.

“The government knows that it must coexist with coca, but it must also seek transformations in the territory so that families do not depend on its cultivation… The country already knows that development processes must be carried out that generate this transformation. Until now, This government has not done it, and previous governments did not achieve it either,” Rueda concluded.

In this sense, they highlight that the lack of financing, bureaucracy and poor coordination between the different state entities have been the main historical limitations for farmers to be able to grow alternative products to the coca leaf.

“In all these types of projects there is always an underlying difficulty: they depend a lot on the preferences of those in the government. They are projects, not state policies, so they do not have continuity or adequate institutional support,” Páez concluded.

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