The mission focuses on analysing the impact of FAO’s early action to mitigate the effects of forced migration and drought in one of the most vulnerable regions of Colombia.
Some information before starting the journal: what we know is that the economic crisis in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has resulted in a migration crisis throughout the region, with an estimated 3.4 million people who have migrated to other countries. Colombia, which is both a transit and destination country, hosts the largest number of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, estimated at more than 1 million people.
What we also know is how the impact of the migration crisis accentuates the socio-economic and environmental structural problems of the rural areas of the department. In La Guajira, where the majority of the population belongs to the Wayúu indigenous people, the migration from Venezuela has in many cases increased the size of families, generating pressure on households’ food consumption. When we talk about migration in this context, we refer to returnees (often with dual nationality), or Venezuelan migrants who had to leave because of the crisis.
And the third fact is that the climatic conditions in La Guajira are very difficult: high temperatures, strong winds and drought. It is in this extremely complex context that FAO, through its Special Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation Activities – Early Action (SFERA-EA), and with the support of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency, intervened to help host families, Colombian returnees and Venezuelan migrants to quickly recover their food production in the rural communities of Alta, Media and Baja Guajira.
Between September and May 2019, 1 003 families were reached in ten communities in five municipalities. And this is how our mission begins – a team from Rome, a team from Bogotá and more importantly, the team from La Guajira.
First day Tutchon, municipality of Manaure (La Guajira)
To evaluate the results of the actions, data is collected through interviews with a sample of FAO beneficiaries, also to be able to compare with households that have not benefited from the project in the same area.
More about the second day of the mission.
The FAO EWEA programme has been supported by the kind assistance of the European Union through the partnership agreement contributing to strengthen the Global Network Against Food Crises.
Source : Fao
