Course lecturer: Prof. Dr. Vanessa Boanada Fuchs

Course outline: Agricultural sustainability paired with social inclusion incentives has been one of the pillars of pacification strategies promoted in Colombia for maintaining social cohesion and providing producers with viable sources of income alternative to the lucrative coca business. Cacao and Coffee for Peace are international collaboration projects promoted by the Colombian Government with USAID and other agencies' technical assistance. The projects target historical conflict zones, offering training for crop substitution and quality improvement in addition to connections with the international market for premium prices. The project promotes financial stability for many rural families and contributes towards peacekeeping. Despite the scope and relative success of the project, in 2020 coca plantations reached record peaks in Colombia.

The course aims to analyse the ʺfor peaceʺ projectsʹ socio‑development impact and instigate the students to investigate the complex interplay between the international value chains of legal and illegal uses of commodities such as coca, cacao and coffee.

This year, the course is offered as an immersion week at FGV and is only open to our Latam Term students and students from our partner university.