Friday, December 24, 2010

Colors of Colombia

Greetings from Colombia,
Apologies for not keeping the blog up to date, but for the past month I've been taking a break from my computer and electronic gadgets. Instead, I've been traveling around Colombia, starting in Boyaca where its cold climate is ideal for vegetables and fruits, to the Cauca Valley where sugar cane abounds. Books and articles about the role of land tenure in Colombia's conflict have also kept me busy. And while there is plenty of work that needs to be done in ensuring Colombian farmers have access to adequate land, there are hopeful news coming from the current government and its policies: an agriculture minister with an excellent background and recognized by critics to be committed to the issue of land reform, and backpedaling some of the disastrous laws and policies enacted during the previous administrative. Couple with a public who understands that the underlying  problem behind Colombia's conflict is access to land, we hope to see real and significant policies to assist poor farmers.
Anyway, below are some pictures of my trip. Enjoy .



Mora (Black berries)

Papayuelo (Carica goudotiana)

The Couple of the Year

Cattle Sale

Land Grabs- a New Global Trend

An excellent article on the NYTimes about land grabs in Mali and other developing countries.