Coca cultivation and crop eradication in Colombia: The challenges of integrating rural reality into effective anti-drug policy

Rincón-Ruíz, Alexander; Correa, H. Leonardo; León, Daniel Oswaldo; Williams, Stewart

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.06.011

Cited by 43 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The BE scenario represents a partial success of the policy where 60% of the coca crops is replaced by legal crops. However, the demand for cocaine remains, coca harvesting and processing continue to be a lucrative and attractive business and there is a displacement of coca crops to new areas (Alvarez, 2003;Armenteras et al, 2013;Count the cost, 2012;McSweeney, 2015;Rincón-Ruiz & Kallis, 2013;Rincon-Ruiz, Correa, Leon, & Williams, 2016). The share of coca crop displacement is based on an extrapolation of the behavioral trend of coca plantation in the last 5 years.…”

Section: Policy Implementation Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment and socioeconomic evaluation of the illicit crop substitution policy in Colombia

Barrera‐Ramírez

Prado²,

Solheim

2019

J of Industrial Ecology

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The peace treaty of Colombia contemplates a crop substitution policy seeking to replace coca crops with legal alternatives. Although crop substitution diverts funding of illegal activities and provides an income to farmers, it is important to understand how the change to a variety of legal crops (coffee, sugarcane, and cacao) affects the income of farmers, and whether there is an environmental advantage of a crop over another. This study applies life cycle assessment (LCA) coupled with socioeconomic indicators to two regions, Putumayo and Catatumbo, over different policy scenarios. LCA results show that a policy success does not ensure a lower environmental impact across the board. Legal crops consume less fuel than coca crops, which reduce fuel‐related impacts, but the use of fertilizer in coffee and pesticide use in sugarcane increase toxicity‐related impacts. The results, however, are affected by a lack of characterization factors of agrochemicals, but once these are replaced by proxies, coca crops appear to have greater toxicity impacts. In terms of individual crops, cacao crops have a lower environmental impact than coffee and sugarcane, but it also takes the longest to harvest, which may pose a financial risk to farmers. The socioeconomic analysis reveals that for Catatumbo farmers, a policy success reduces the income, whereas for Putumayo farmers, a policy success increases income and job generation. In general, it was observed that the dynamics of the illegal supply chain vary for each region, influencing the environmental and socioeconomic outcome of the substitution policy.

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Section: Policy Implementation Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment and socioeconomic evaluation of the illicit crop substitution policy in Colombia

Barrera‐Ramírez

Prado²,

Solheim

2019

J of Industrial Ecology

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“…Colombia continues to be one the most important coca producers in the world despite the ongoing fight against drugs funded mainly by the US government since the 1980s (Rincón-Ruiz et al 2016). In the last years, prominent voices have called for a redefinition of drug war policies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, academic literature suggests that repressive policies to eradicate illicit crops have very limited long-term effects (Ibanez & Martinsson 2013;Riley 1993;Zuleta 2017). Aerial spraying, for instance, does not reduce total coca production; instead, it diffuses production into surrounding territories displacing it to important ecosystems, including areas inhabited by ethnic minorities (Rincón-Ruiz & Kallis 2013;Rincón-Ruiz et al 2016). Aerial spraying with glyphosate creates unintended consequences such as the so-called 'balloon effect': the expansion of coca crops frontiers from damaged sprayed land to new areas that overlap with forests and other fragile ecosystems (Mora 1996;Dávalos 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges of Organised Community Resistance in the Context of Illicit Economies and Drug War Policies: Insights from Colombia

Vélez

Lobo

2019

Journal of Illicit Economies and Development

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The voice and role of communities, particularly their capacity to organise and resist, has been understudied in the specialised literature on illicit crops and largely ignored in policy debates. Based on ongoing research in Colombia, this policy paper explores the capacity of communities to organise and resist-as a manifestation of cultural and social capital-in the context of illicit economies. The paper argues that in the context of weak states, the effectiveness of drug policies could be enhanced by drawing upon and investing in communities' organisational capacity and active local leadership to increase the non-monetary benefits of eradication and substitution. Acknowledging how resistance reflects the experiences of communities and responds to their different needs, the paper offers relevant insights for policy that can inform drug policy formulation in Colombia and similar contexts.

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“…Monitoring land cover/land use and determining drivers of biodiversity loss using optical remote sensing is challenging in the context of humid/pluvial forests due to the high or permanent cloud cover [13,14]. To overcome this limitation, we used both optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data for the land cover classification that included information from Landsat-8, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1.…”

Section: Data and Pre-processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are also unexpected results associated with the peace process because of changes in territorial control [13] by illegal groups which frequently finance themselves with revenues from illicit crops and alluvial mining, creating negative impacts in the form of deforestation and damage to ecosystems [14]. Unfortunately, official land cover maps are not regularly updated in the country, constraining the information available to make informed decisions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia

et al. 2020

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Tropical forests are disappearing at unprecedented rates, but the drivers behind this transformation are not always clear. This limits the decision-making processes and the effectiveness of forest management policies. In this paper, we address the extent and drivers of deforestation of the Choco biodiversity hotspot, which has not received much scientific attention despite its high levels of plant diversity and endemism. The climate is characterized by persistent cloud cover which is a challenge for land cover mapping from optical satellite imagery. By using Google Earth Engine to select pixels with minimal cloud content and applying a random forest classifier to Landsat and Sentinel data, we produced a wall-to-wall land cover map, enabling a diagnosis of the status and drivers of forest loss in the region. Analyses of these new maps together with information from illicit crops and alluvial mining uncovered the pressure over intact forests. According to Global Forest Change (GFC) data, 2324 km2 were deforested in this area from 2001 to 2018, reaching a maximum in 2016 and 2017. We found that 68% of the area is covered by broadleaf forests (67,473 km2) and 15% by shrublands (14,483 km2), the latter with enormous potential to promote restoration projects. This paper provides a new insight into the conservation of this exceptional forest with a discussion of the drivers of forest loss, where illicit crops and alluvial mining were found to be responsible for 60% of forest loss.

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Coca cultivation and crop eradication in Colombia: The challenges of integrating rural reality into effective anti-drug policy

Cited by 43 publications

References 12 publications

Life cycle assessment and socioeconomic evaluation of the illicit crop substitution policy in Colombia

Life cycle assessment and socioeconomic evaluation of the illicit crop substitution policy in Colombia

Challenges of Organised Community Resistance in the Context of Illicit Economies and Drug War Policies: Insights from Colombia

Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia

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