From an early age, Emilse has worked the land. Unfortunately, forced displacement led her to leave her native Caquetá Department to seek a new life in the municipality of Dagua, Valle del Cauca Department. Along this arduous path, and due to the difficulties of securing herself and her daughters a livelihood, she began to grow coca. When she heard of the National Comprehensive Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops (PNIS), she filled her old car with all the neighbors who wanted to get involved and they attended the first meetings. Since then, Emilse has been working on alternatives to help her, her family, and her neighbors to have a better future.
In this episode of “Women Seeding Peace,” Emilse tells us how after eradicating her coca plants, she joined with several neighbors to grow food and develop productive animal breeding projects. PASO Colombia’s Contingency Plan To Support Ex-coca Grower Families has helped this group of women and their families to choose legality as their best possible option.
Like Emilse, women who have substituted coca crops across Colombia are creating a new life for themselves and their communities. The “Women Seeding Peace” web series collects the stories of participants of PASO Colombia’s Contingency Plan, which supports families registered in the PNIS program. Today, these women are the driving forces of sustainable development in their territories.
The Contingency Plan to Support Ex-coca Grower Families is funded by the UN Multipartner Trust Fund for Sustaining Peace in Colombia, and implemented by PASO Colombia in coordination with the Presidential Office for Stabilization and Consolidation.
