Agro-industrial uses of the coca leaf in indigenous communities of Cauca, Colombia in the post-conflict framework

Abstract

The research presented below had the objective of presenting the most significant experiences related to the licit agroindustrial uses of the coca leaf, which the indigenous communities of the department of Cauca Colombia have adopted in the post-conflict framework. Successful cases such as the one generated as a result of the productive activities that were established through a project developed by the National Learning Service (SENA) and de Open Society Foundations, specifically in the community of Lerma, were also revealed of Coca Nasa. Regarding the research methodology, it was carried out with a qualitative and exploratory approach, as a result, it was found that in the last five years the department of Cauca Colombia has presented a significant growth of coca cultivation, especially in the sectors inhabited by indigenous and peasant communities who have preserved the ancestral, nutritional, medicinal, and cultural meaning of coca. Finally, it was concluded that the agro-industry from the coca leaf is viable in this territory. However, the communities face multiple impediments to generate this option for economic and productive development in the region, from the political and legal context.