Improving nutrition and community access to healthy food in the Andes.

• Popayan, Colombia
• Community partner since 2015
• 200 small-scale farming families

Food Security Pillars addressed:

Learn more about the 4 Pillars of Food Security.

Asociación Nuevo Futuro is a coffee-growing organization with 200 family-members spread out across five municipalities in Cauca, Colombia. They’re organized into local boards that share information and provide ‘farmer to farmer’ technical assistance. Luz Elva Chacon leads Nuevo Futuro’s effort to improve and embed food security, right in the heart of the community.

While most of our partners struggle with food scarcity, Nuevo Futuro faces different challenges: a lack of diversity in a diet that’s heavy on starches, and a heavy reliance on processed foods and carbohydrates. Low coffee prices, high coffee production costs, and rising food prices – which have increased 46% over the past 9 years –  has left families extremely vulnerable to food insecurity. 

The Opportunity

Our initial research showed that 85% of families have consistent access to food, and members are encouraged to diversify their farms and grow food staples. This access, combined with a local board structure for providing technical assistance, makes Nuevo Futuro an organization well-positioned to lead the way to a stronger local food system.

The Diagnosis 

With Nuevo Futuro, Food 4 Farmers designed a long-term food security plan with long-term, community-appropriate strategies. We also built a monitoring & evaluation system so Nuevo Futuro could measure its own success. Families wanted to understand basic concepts like balanced diets, and reconnect with their traditional food heritage, so we developed a curriculum for educational workshops.

We’re also partnering with Engineers Without Borders, which is working with the community to design and install prototype water catchment systems using locally available, affordable materials.

Key strategies

Together with Nuevo Futuro, we’ve developed these tools and strategies to help the community improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods:

• A food security curriculum to educate families — and focusing on women, because they purchase and prepare family meals — about healthy diets, food storage techniques to prevent waste, and other topics. We’ve trained Nuevo Futuro staff to facilitate workshops and embed knowledge within the community.
• Home gardens with water management systems. Members had reported water issues as a key challenge to sustaining home gardens.
• Chicken and egg production to provide a regular source of protein for families, and supplement their coffee income with local sales.
• Farm diversification to reduce reliance on coffee, improve nutrition, supplement income, and restore farm biodiversity.