USAID/OTI Colombia Quarterly Report
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October - December 2010 |
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Program Description
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) launched the Initial Governance Response Program (IGRP) in March 2007. The program's goal is to reinforce stability in high-priority, conflict-affected areas of Colombia. In support of this goal, IGRP's objectives are to strengthen the credibility and legitimacy of the Government of Colombia (GOC) in post-conflict areas through small, community-driven activities; to increase the willingness and capacity of communities to cooperate and interact with the GOC; and to expand the GOC's capacity to exercise timely, credible, and responsive civil functions.
Activities
The IGRP program's model of rapid responses to community-identified needs, implemented in the name of the GOC, both creates confidence in the GOC and leads to further investment by the GOC as part of the process of consolidation of State presence. IGRP is supporting this consolidation process in four parts of the country through the following activities:
Small Community Activities – Once the military has provided permanent security in an area, and coca has been eradicated, OTI provides support to the GOC for small, quick-impact, community-prioritized social infrastructure projects. These projects are frequently the first concrete demonstration of government support for historically marginalized communities and serve to quickly begin building trust between communities and local government. Projects also serve as a vehicle for building trust in areas typically characterized by lack of community due to the historical illegal underpinnings of the economy. Typical projects address needs for community centers, street lighting, road and drainage systems, tertiary road repair, and school kitchens.
Income-Generating Activities – OTI supports small, quick-impact economic opportunities for groups making the transition from the coca-based economy to the legal economy. Projects build on what people already know how to do and are directed at the local market. Typical projects provide agricultural inputs, planting material, small machinery for transformation, and technical assistance to improve both production and business operations.
The program is also supporting the consolidation process with technical assistance to mayors' offices and GOC consolidation teams—including at the national level—and by supporting a communication strategy promoting consolidation, the National Park Service's efforts to resettle families living illegally in national parks, and a strategy to prevent youth recruitment into illegally armed groups.
Country Situation
President Santos' First Four Months in Office – President Juan Manuel Santos continues to emphasize the consolidation of State presence in prioritized parts of the country. Consolidation efforts, however, have been impeded by widespread flooding, which has destroyed infrastructure that will cost an estimated $6 billion to repair. A proposal before Congress will give monetary compensation to people victimized by the long-running conflict and also provide restitution for land illegally seized by criminal bands. The proposed law encompasses land formalization and will make small-holder land titling a government priority. In the words of President Santos, "Titular es consolidar": to grant land titles is to consolidate State presence. The new Minister of Agriculture, whose ministry is responsible for land titling, is taking the land-titling challenge extremely seriously. President Santos has also re-established diplomatic relations with Ecuador and Venezuela, moves important for both economic and security reasons.
Death of a Major Drug Lord in Meta – Criminality and the drug industry in Meta took another major hit on December 24, 2010, with the death of Pedro "Cuchillo" Guerrero (so-called for his fondness for terrorizing people with his large knife, or cuchillo). According to General Oscar Naranjo, head of the national police, Guerrero was responsible for more than 3,000 deaths during his years as a paramilitary and later as a major drug trafficker in southern Meta. Guerrero was killed during a police action. He was the most-wanted drug trafficker in Colombia and also was sought by the U.S. justice system on drug-trafficking charges. As drug lords and FARC leaders are removed, consolidation of lawfulness and State presence in southern Meta increases.
Security – The September death of Mono Jojoy in the mountains of the La Macarena National Park spurred some groups from his 700-member band to move into areas long-held by the army, but the FARC combatants have since been pushed back into unpopulated terrain. With assistance from intelligence sources, the army continues to uncover FARC weapons caches in Meta and Tolima. Attacks on police and army personnel continue in other parts of the country, primarily in areas not under military control. Contrary to FARC threats, no major attacks were mounted over the Christmas holiday, further demonstrating the weakness of the guerrilla group.
Coca Eradication and Land Titling – In early 2010, the Plan de Consolidación Integral de La Macarena (PCIM) set the goal of zero coca in the program's area of operation. The goal is nearly achieved. In 2007, PCIM slated approximately 12,000 hectares for coca eradication and conversion to legal agricultural uses. About 500 hectares remain unconverted. The power of land titling is helping advance voluntary eradication. Communities have often reported scattered patches of coca, but residents say they cannot eradicate these patches because narco-guerrillas will retaliate. However, during a recent verification exercise in the three veredas (administrative subdivisions) where OTI is supporting a pilot land-titling effort (and where coca patches have been reported), the verification team found a single coca plant. It is clear that would-be landowners do not want to lose title rights by growing coca.
Grants Summary
Grant activity since OTI program launch in March 2007 breaks down as follows: Education, 23%; Health, 2%; Institutional Development, 15%; Land Titling, less than 1%; Media/Communications, 3%; Productive Activities, 24%; Small Municipal Infrastructure, 11%; Socio-Cultural Activities, 4%; Transportation, 16%; Water/Sanitation, 1%.
Highlights
Closing Out Post-Eradication Projects in Meta – The post-eradication agricultural program was designed to help transition small-holder farmers from the coca economy to the legal economy. Once coca grows were eradicated, the GOC provided farmers with food packages and seed, which allowed families to sustain themselves and establish family gardens. Partners then worked with farmers to develop quick-impact, income-generation projects using familiar legal crops. In addition to providing new sources of sustenance and income, the program has helped establish working relationships between local government and 1,123 former FARC-dominated coca farmers. These nascent relationships are helping communities understand the role of local government vis-à-vis its citizens. The projects have helped farmers grow food for their families, generate legal income for the first time in years, and restore respect for farming (rather than coca production) as an occupation, which is reinforcing the traditional family values that underpin rural life.
OTI is preparing to hand over responsibilities for activities in Meta to a new USAID contract sometime in early 2011, and the program is working with local government entities and the implementer of a new Dutch-funded program to ensure that various groups in closeout areas will continue to have access to technical assistance, as many are early on in the transition process.
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| Photo credit: Alexis Ruiz
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| A man fishes in the Pacific coast shallows near Tumaco. The picture won first place in a photography contest promoting peaceful and licit activities in the municipality.
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Photography Contest in Nariño – OTI sponsored a photography contest in the Nariño municipality of Tumaco, a primarily Afro-Colombian community on the border with Ecuador. OTI has facilitated similar activities in Meta and Tolima, and the aim of the contest was to promote the community-prioritized values of respect for life, solidarity, and transparency—ideals that go hand-in-hand with efforts to consolidate State presence. The contest's primary effect was to bring citizens and local government together in new ways. Participating institutions included the mayor's office, the municipality's Cultural Center, the National Training Institute, the offices of education and sport, and the Regional Coordination Center. In addition, the Anti-Narcotics Police flew in a popular Bogota-based Afro-Colombian musical group for the award celebration. Many residents thanked the government for organizing this public call for peace that simultaneously promoted the traditionally marginalized Afro-Colombian culture.
Perception Survey in Tolima – A baseline perception survey was carried out in the accessible parts of the four target municipalities of Tolima. Some of the more interesting findings include the following:
- People in rural areas have a more favorable view of the government than those living in urban areas, despite receiving far fewer services;
- People generally have greater confidence in the national government than in the local government;
- Confidence in local government corresponds to the presence (or absence) of programs dedicated to human rights and peace building; and
- Current rates of participation in community meetings and political activities are much higher than they were 5 years ago. (Participation rates increase when the army, one of the most-respected government institutions in the region, maintains a presence in an area.)
Increasing Incomes by Improving Management – Dairy represents an important source of income for many farmers in southern Meta; however, outdated management practices and small herds keep production low. The program recently awarded a grant to 13 farmers in the municipality of San Juan de Arama to help increase their income-generating capacity. The assistance is providing materials for milking stables and solar-powered electric fencing, which is important for controlling herds and protecting pastureland. Technical assistance will help the recipients improve operations by providing training on best practices, such as rotational grazing, and enterprise management. In the words of an individual involved with the activity, "This project has paved the way for a new and promising horizon for all producers in the area who are developing an entrepreneurial vision for commercializing their production, as well as a vision for how to tap into the agro-industrial milk sector."
Program Appraisal
The GOC's pilot consolidation effort in Meta is serving as the model to be replicated in other parts of the country as the Plan Nacional de Consolidación Territorial, which is supported by the U.S. Embassy's Colombia Strategic Development Initiative (CSDI).
The program continues to demonstrate the critical importance of speed and flexibility for consolidation efforts. OTI quickly refocused program efforts to capitalize on numerous veredas opening up in the municipalities of La Uribe and La Macarena following military efforts to extend permanent territorial security. In addition, when Mono Jojoy was killed in late September, an edition of Territorios was quickly rolled out. The publication focused on the importance of security for Colombian citizens, highlighting, in the words of community members, the positive changes that have occurred in people's lives as security has improved.
Next Steps
OTI priorities for the next quarter include the following:
- Conduct the final Strategy Review Session in early January, focusing on lessons learned from the PCIM and discussing how to best ensure that those lessons are incorporated into future USAID and GOC consolidation programming;
- Continue to implement confidence-building socioeconomic projects in newly opened veredas in Meta and Tolima, aiming to complete as many projects as possible by the end of March, as the program is scheduled for closeout on June 30, 2011;
- Work with the new USAID implementing partner to ensure a smooth transition with the new Central Region strategy when the award is finalized in early 2011;
- Complete the rehabilitation of a key tertiary road in Nariño;
- Complete the operational plans for Nariño and Cordoba;
- Complete the final perception survey for Meta and carry out baseline surveys in Nariño, Cordoba, and Antioquia; and
- Conduct the Final Evaluation.
For further information, please contact the USAID Colombia Mission.
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