Agribusiness and food systems

Through Colombia PUEDE, ITC is working to improve the income earning opportunities of 2,000 smallholder farmers and their families in post-conflict areas of Colombia by increasing their productivity, improving the quality of their produce, and connecting them with markets. 

Colombia PUEDE works with small producers of coconuts, cocoa and Tahiti lime in four post-conflict municipalities in the Department of Nariño, in the south of Colombia: El Rosario, Leiva, Policarpa, and Tumaco. 

We aim to help these farmers through: 

• Increasing their access to technical assistance and infrastructure 

• Strengthening the capacities and skills of producers  

• Enhancing the market knowledge of small producers  

• Identifying and taking advantage of market opportunities and value chain alliances.  

A coconut producing company in the Bajo Mira y Frontera Community Council

Milena Moreno

The International Trade Centre’s Colombia PUEDE project, supported by the European Union Trust Fund for Colombia, is helping farmers and their families in post-conflict areas reach their dreams of a better life by improving their trade and income opportunities.  

Among the multiple effects of Colombia’s decades of armed conflict is the destruction of livelihoods and, consequently, significant levels of rural poverty in today’s post-conflict regions. 

We are transforming these communities by providing management, production and harvesting knowledge, and linking farmers in the areas that were most affected by armed conflict to new business opportunities. 

Improvements in coconut, lime, and cacao production are now empowering smallholder farmers, including women and young people, to increase sales. 

As these areas represent 90% of the country and 30% of the population, transforming the rural economy is key to promoting reconciliation, peace, and development in Colombia.  

Tahiti lime producer

Milena Moreno

Ally Lukindo, a small-scale black pepper farmer together with his family at their home in Tanzania

Daniel Msirikale

Helping East African Community farmers prosper.

Thanks to the training provided by ITC through MARKUP, farmers in the East African Community (EAC) have learned how to assess the qualities of their coffee and negotiate a price, they have learned cocoa fermentation techniques, and they have also become skilled in marketing, branding and exporting their products.

MARKUP supports small businesses in a variety of sectors, including avocado, cocoa, coffee, horticulture, spices and tea. We work to identify and eliminate barriers to their trade, improve their competitiveness and help provide access to finance and investment.  

Through our work in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, we have:

• Impacted the lives of more than 2,800 beneficiaries in EAC countries
• Improved the export capacities of 780 companies
• Helped 71 companies in the EAC countries generate at least $10.5m in exports
• Assisted 79 companies in EAC countries to access $10 m in new funding
• Facilitated more than $1 million of European investment in EAC based companies
• Improved services of 16 regional and national institutions to member companies
• Improved 12 trade-related policies, strategies and regulations in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda