Post #284

Why coca is king for Colombian farmers Colombia is the world’s largest producer of coca, the primary ingredient in cocaine. It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry, but rural coca growers don’t reap the rewards. For them, harvesting coca leaf is the only way to put food on the table. In 2016, a historic peace deal between the government and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) pledged to provide rural farmers with legal alternative crops and subsidies. These promises have failed to materialize, however. The crop substitution payments don’t reach farmers, while armed groups battle openly for control, and aerial fumigation destroys the environment and endangers peoples’ health. Sandwiched between the government, armed groups, and poverty, Colombian farmers keep growing coca and come out to protest. In the meantime, the coca crop area in Columbia expanded in 2020. Check out our documentary about Colombian farmers struggling to give up the illegal plant. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary