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Colombia
Trading Partners
Country Statistics
Total population - 44,915,000Life Expectancy - 73 years
GNI per capita - US$20001
Background
The history of Colombia is one of violence and social and economic inequalities. A lack of tolerance and viable mechanisms for uniting the national identity contribute to the conflicts that erode the nation. A quick glance at national statistics reflects a development model and the degrees of disparity that exist in Colombia.
Three departments in Colombia – Cundinamarca (including the capital Bogotá), Antioquia and Valle – concentrate 53 percent of the national production. This is also indicative of a development model that prioritizes a few sectors in specific locations and leaves most of this vast and rich country simply to fend for itself, resulting in the enormous inequalities of the Colombian society today.
In recent years, the US government has spent billions of dollars to eradicate the drug market – accused of being a root cause of this violence. But as Witness for Peace puts it “Ostensibly to fight the War on Drugs, this aid package has done little more than inflame a complicated conflict that already places civilians in the crossfire, and destroys huge quantities of legitimate subsistence and economic crops.”
Among those important crops, of course, is coffee. Colombia was the third largest exporter of coffee until Vietnam overtook it in 2000. However, Colombia is still the largest exporter of washed arabicas, thanks in part to its year-round production, and savvy marketing around the world - exemplified by the famous Juan Valdez and his mule, a New York City ad agency creation. The majority of this production is by smallholders (with an average farm size of 1.4 hectares) with parcels located on steep hillsides of altitudes between 1.300 and 1.800 meters.
The export of Colombian coffee is very much controlled by just a few actors, primarily by the National Coffee Federation, and is only just beginning to recognize the value of facilitating producers’ participation in a growing fair trade market.
Resources:1. Statistics are from 2004 www.unicef.org website
Insight and perspective provided by:
Adolfo Garces, Fondo Paez - Colombia
Oscar Hernandez, Aficionado of Latin American history, world politics, and globalization.
Three departments in Colombia – Cundinamarca (including the capital Bogotá), Antioquia and Valle – concentrate 53 percent of the national production. This is also indicative of a development model that prioritizes a few sectors in specific locations and leaves most of this vast and rich country simply to fend for itself, resulting in the enormous inequalities of the Colombian society today.
In recent years, the US government has spent billions of dollars to eradicate the drug market – accused of being a root cause of this violence. But as Witness for Peace puts it “Ostensibly to fight the War on Drugs, this aid package has done little more than inflame a complicated conflict that already places civilians in the crossfire, and destroys huge quantities of legitimate subsistence and economic crops.”
Among those important crops, of course, is coffee. Colombia was the third largest exporter of coffee until Vietnam overtook it in 2000. However, Colombia is still the largest exporter of washed arabicas, thanks in part to its year-round production, and savvy marketing around the world - exemplified by the famous Juan Valdez and his mule, a New York City ad agency creation. The majority of this production is by smallholders (with an average farm size of 1.4 hectares) with parcels located on steep hillsides of altitudes between 1.300 and 1.800 meters.
The export of Colombian coffee is very much controlled by just a few actors, primarily by the National Coffee Federation, and is only just beginning to recognize the value of facilitating producers’ participation in a growing fair trade market.
Resources:1. Statistics are from 2004 www.unicef.org website
Insight and perspective provided by:
Adolfo Garces, Fondo Paez - Colombia
Oscar Hernandez, Aficionado of Latin American history, world politics, and globalization.
