The government will allocate $65 billion to rescue and strengthen coconut production on the Pacific coast.

Timbiquí, Cauca. - (@MinAgriculturaCol). The National Government will allocate $65,435,000,000 to rescue coconut production in seven municipalities in the department of Nariño and three in Cauca. This will be done through the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Justice and Equality; ICA, UPRA, Agrosavia, and the Rural Development Agency. Of this fund, 5 billion are contributed by the Fund for Rehabilitation, Investment, and Fight against Organized Crime –FRISCO–. This initiative aims to combat the coconut weevil, a pest that has affected coconut crops for over 25 years, benefiting 10,400 producer families.

 
"There are approximately 7,000 hectares of coconut, and if developed industrially, it would have more strength. And if we add cocoa, or perhaps low-altitude coffee, there would be more. What if we have a comprehensive package to realistically tell people that the time has come to exchange coca for coconut? That is the proposal we have because if we achieve it, we build peace, violence decreases, the economy it generates ceases to exist, and it changes to economies that can promote coexistence, solidarity, peace, working together without problems," said President Gustavo Petro during the investment announcement.

 
In total, the project will focus on 6,780 hectares, where ecological restoration, eradication, and cultivation actions will be carried out. Fedecoco will be a key ally in spreading knowledge to producers about ecological traps aimed at the coconut weevil.

 
"The coconut has been sick on the Pacific coast for 25 years, and no one had cared, but the coconut is the heritage, the savings, the possibility of going to university for all young people in this region. We established a commitment with the vice president and the Ministry of Equality to save the coconut between this year and the next one. There are 14 thousand hectares of infected coconut among the three municipalities of Cauca and the seven of Nariño. We are more or less at 7 thousand of those 14 thousand hectares that have already been restored. With the investment we are going to make, 65.5 billion pesos this year, we are going to save the remaining 7 thousand to eliminate this plague from the Pacific and to save the dignity a​​nd heritage of the community councils," emphasized Jhenifer Mojica, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

 
The project will be implemented through alliances between Fedecoco, Agrosavia, the University of Cauca, the National Navy, and the community councils of the region for the production, purchase, and transportation of seedlings or plant material to restore areas affected by the coconut weevil.

 
The prioritized municipalities are Tumaco, Francisco Pizarro, El Charco, La Tola, Mosquera, Santa Bárbara, and Olaya Herrera in Nariño; and Timbiquí, López de Micay, and Guapi in Cauca. Currently, the department of Chocó is not significantly affected; however, preventive technical support will be provided. The announcement was made in the municipality of Timbiquí, Cauca, during the Government with the People event on the Pacific coast.