Transforming the Socioeconomic Landscape in Rural Areas

Cordoba is one of 32 departments that make up Colombia. Located along the northwestern coast of the country, Cordoba is the fifteenth largest department with a total territory of 23.980 square kilometers or 2.393.000 hectares. Likewise, Cordoba has a departmental Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$12 billion and a population of almost 1.8 million, for an estimated GDP per capita of approximately US$7.000. Therefore, Cordoba’s GDP per capita is about half of the national level, which is about US$14.500. Moreover, Cordoba has an unemployment rate of 6%, approximately 43.000 people throughout the department, which is slightly lower than the national average of 9.3%. Nevertheless, this is mainly based on the employment situation in the departmental capital city of Monteria, where some 53% of Cordoba’s population resides. Meanwhile, in the rural areas of Cordoba, at risk populations suffer from seasonal unemployment and underemployment due to the weather patterns that dictate the intensity of cattle raising and drive many to seek better opportunities elsewhere.

Simultaneously, having a large rural economy, some 63% or almost 1.6 million hectares of Cordoba’s territory is devoted to cattle raising, while another 8% or 600.000 hectares are devoted to other agricultural activities (particularly throughout the northern half of the department). Similarly, about 24% or 600.000 hectares of Cordoba’s territory are forests and protected nature reserves. However, in spite of Cordoba’s positive macroeconomic indicators, the department’s rural areas have traditionally been a source of migration towards the departmental capital of Monteria, the wealthy neighboring department of Antioquia, and the national capital, Bogota. This is mainly due to the fact that cattle raising operations throughout Cordoba require few employees, particularly during the non-rainy season of the year.

Transforming the Socioeconomic Landscape in Rural Areas

This is why Farmfolio’s operation at Ganaderia Pietrasanta (GP) is unique in its agricultural diversity and is trendsetting because it employs a larger base throughout the department’s rural areas. On average, cattle operations utilize one employee for every 65 hectares. Meanwhile, green coconut operations require one employee for every 8 hectares. Furthermore, projections are that, even with more intense labor requirements, coconut operations will be more profitable than cattle raising. Therefore, assuming that 1.5 million hectares of Cordoba’s rural areas are devoted to cattle raising, cattle farms within the department could provide employment for approximately 24.000 rural workers.

However, if half of the territory in these cattle farms were transformed into coconut plantations (some 750.000 hectares), Cordoba would add over 93.000 jobs to its rural regions. Such an initiative can be undertaken given the water resources throughout the department, the richness of its soil, and the fact that Farmfolio’s GP has established a certified green coconut nursery in the region. Likewise, advancing coconut plantations would strengthen the socioeconomic condition of rural communities and further lower unemployment throughout Cordoba. Lastly, it would turn Cordoba into an importer of labor from neighboring departments, instead of being a labor exporter.

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