In his article “How regenerative agriculture can foster peacebuilding in conflict areas,” Keough School faculty member Drew Marcantonio, a Kellogg faculty fellow, highlights a surprising new revolution by former combatants in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
A region once plagued with violence has now turned to an agricultural cooperative called COOMPAZCOL in an attempt to address their current climate crisis and deforestation. Former FARC members have formed alliances with the community members they had once threatened, to establish a sustainable circular system of producing food.
“The project is an example of how regenerative agriculture can be used for peace and reconciliation, as well as environmental restoration,” states Marcantonio. Globally, conflict and environmental risks are on the rise but COOMPAZCOL has provided a possible new solution to address both problems simultaneously.
Marcantonio is a faculty member of the Keough School of Global Affairs’ Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. His research focuses on regenerative and durable enterprise, environmental management and policy, environmental and other violence, peacebuilding, and Integral Human Ecology.