UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies

Quibdó, Chocó region, Colombia At the beginning of the project we were aware of some of the concerns and conditions we would going to face executing the aims of the postharvest workshops. However, after visiting the campesinas , we had a clearer idea of how to adjust the workshop contents to the reality of the farmers and villages. We conducted two workshops with a week of separation, each of them on a Sunday, which is the time the campesinas regularly meet. The first workshop took place on Sunday, December 4 th at the FUNBICHOCÓ Center of Excellence and ~25 people (male and female audience) attended. It consisted of a general overview of the concept of “ postharvest ”, the factors affecting the quality and shelf-life of fruit and vegetables once they are harvested, and how the farmers can use and take advantage of low-cost, affordable and accessible tools to reduce their produce losses during postharvest. We designed a poster with the title of the project in both ...

Quibdó, Chocó region, Colombia The next goal of our visit was to meet the “ campesinas ” (small-scale female farmers). In this project, the aim was to work with ~40 campesinas that were already participants of other activities organized by our strategic ally, FUNBICHOCÓ, a non-profit organization founded in 2007 by UC Davis alumni Dr. Adriana Elisa Parra. One of FUNBICHOCÓ’s principles is to promote the development of the people of Chocó through practical education, both formal and non‐formal, in all relevant areas, with a special emphasis on women. In company of Dr. Parra and our strategic partner (and Adriana’s husband) Fredrick Fox, we traveled to two villages of the Chocó region, Samurindó and Yuto, where some of the participants live. A view from the villages of Samurindó and Yuto, both crossed by tributaries of the Atrato River. We introduced ourselves and had an extensive talk about the agricultural and agronomic conditions, the crops that are produced in those vi...

Quibdó, Chocó region, Colombia Our first days in Quibdó, capitol of the Chocó region, were anything but quiet and still, and that was exactly what we were looking for: to deeply immerse ourselves   in the reality of the region, to know the needs and concerns of its citizens, and to introduce ourselves so we could have an open exchange of views and ideas. The first formal activity was a “conversatorio” (discussion group) that was announced among professors and undergraduate students of Agroforestry Engineering major of the Technological University of Chocó. The Technological University of Chocó “Diego Luis Córdoba”, located in Quibdó, was founded in 1968 and started its academic activities in 1972 (upper picture credit to David LaFevor, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/esss/resources/photos.php ) The purpose of this meeting was to introduce the project funded by the Blum Center at UC Davis “ Reducing Postharvest Food Losses for Poverty Alleviation through Sustainable Solu...