Mirian - Anorí, Antioquia

As the eldest of 13 children, Mirian began working at a very young age. She later got married and devoted herself to taking care of her children and husband by doing household chores. Although she never grew coca, she sold her farm products to coca growers and collectors, and was often threatened with violence from armed groups. On several occasions, she had to rebuild her home from the ashes.

In this episode of “Women Seeding Peace,” Mirian tells us how PASO Colombia’s Contingency Plan To Support Ex-coca Grower Families enabled her to receive the first formal payment of her life, as well as making a dream of her youth come true: to keep studying.

Like Mirian, 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 National Comprehensive Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops (PNIS). 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.

Contingency Plan To Support Ex-Coca Growers Families

Watch More Stories

Jani - Puerto Asis, Putumayo
With the Contingency Plan Jani transformed her life. Now he is a leader in a campesino(rural farming) reserve in which he shares key knowledge so that his community can prosper legally.
Diana and Martha - Bolívar, Valle del Cauca
Martha and Diana tell how the collaborative work of various productive organizations in the municipalities of El Dovio and Bolivar in Valle del Cauca, has allowed them to build infrastructure for common benefit and organize markets to make alternative projects to coca viable.
Sandra and Dora - Dagua, Valle del Cauca
In the middle of the Farallones de Cali National Natural Park, a hidden paradise awaited. The armed conflict put the inhabitants of Dagua, one of the municipalities that make up the park, through many and very difficult situations.
Johana and Saura - Tibú, North Santander
The incursions by paramilitary groups caused Saura and Johana to leave displaced to different parts of their department. In order to rebuild their lives, they used coca for years to support their families.
Socorro - San José del Guaviare, Guaviare
In the past, Socorro spent her days preparing meals for the coca growers and collectors who used her farmland to pluck and process the leaf.
Mirian - Anorí, Antioquia
As the eldest of 13 children, Mirian began working at a very young age. She later got married and devoted herself to taking care of her children and husband by doing household chores.
Nancy - Anorí, Antioquia
Violence robbed Nancy’s children of their fathers. Now, she uses her leadership abilities to work with other women that have left coca crops behind, reconstructing the municipal nursery and cultivating a future of peace for their community.
Emilse - Dagua, Valle del Cauca
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.