EL VENADO, Colombia — Until recently, the rolling green hills surrounding the tiny Colombian community of El Venado were covered with illegal coca plantations. Deep in the southern state of Putumayo and away from government oversight, Graciela Castillo, like many other locals, grew coca, a key ingredient in the production of cocaine. Putumayo’s economy has long been tethered to coca production, with the illicit drug trade providing a stable and reliable economic lifeline for rural communities. But this has also exposed them to armed groups, human rights abuses and instability. Seeking an alternative, Castillo and other local women have switched to fish farming, which allows them to make a living, distance themselves from violence and fight against gender stereotypes. “The conflict has been going on for many years and now it has become more visible,” says Castillo, whose brother was killed in 1995 as part of the wider conflict in Putumayo, while she and her family had to move. “People are no longer silent, they are speaking up, but before you had to watch and keep quiet, otherwise you would be killed or displaced,” she tells Mongabay. Pushed by necessity, Castillo eventually returned to Putumayo to work in the coca fields; but as she continued facing insecurity, she sought a different livelihood. She is now a member of the local fishing cooperative Asociación de Piscicultoras y Productoras Agropecuarias El Progreso, known by its acronym ASOPPAEP, a female-led collective established in 2013 that focuses on a legal, safer alternative to the…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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