PBI-Colombia accompanies ACVC-RAN at workshops with rice farmers in the Cimitarra River Valley Campesino Reserve Zone

On September 17, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Projected tweeted: “This weekend PBI accompanied in the municipality of San Pablo, south of Bolívar, @ACVCRAN who conducted workshops with rice farmers in the framework of the project ‘Defense of the territory and human rights in the Peasant Reserve Zone of the Cimitarra River Valley’.”

ACVC-RAN refers to the Campesina Association of the Cimitarra River Valley – National Agroecological Network.

PBI-Colombia has previously noted: “PBI accompanies the ACVC who focus their work on the Campesino Reserve Zones (ZRC) and sustainable development, the development of agricultural projects in areas of education and health.”

The ACVC’s economic development projects, designed to guarantee food security for the peasant farmer population in the valley, includes small-scale rice farming, as well as sugar cane production.

PBI-Colombia has also explained: “The Campesino Reserve Zones are an example of community-driven resistance [that] promote food security and sustainable agriculture, challenging the economic model based on the extraction of natural resources and large-scale land exploitation through agribusiness.”

PBI-Colombia has also noted: “The hydrocarbon industry has played a fundamental role in the economic activity of the [Cimitarra River Valley] region, generating approximately 70% of the total economic value produced there.”

Further to that point, International Action for Peace has noted: “There was talk [at the Festival for Culture and Peasant Dignity in Puerto Nuevo Ité that was hosted by ACVC-RAN in 2018] about the problem of fracking and the threat of this activity in the Serranía de San Lucas and the wetlands of the Magdalena Medio.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the ACVC since 2007 and has since expanded its accompaniment emphasizing political advocacy to raise awareness about the problems faces by the organization and the region in which they carry out their work.