Colombia’s flag is composed of three stripes of colors: yellow that represents the sun, justice and harmony; blue that represents the sky, rivers and seas; and red that represents the sacrifice, love, strength and progress of its people.
In the north of the country, in the department of Bolívar, there is a town that reflects the symbolism of the Colombian flag, El Carmen de Bolívar. A land that rises from 197 meters to approximately 350 metres above sea level, surrounded by a mountainous system known as Montes de María or Serranía de San Jacinto. A territory full of wealth, with the perfect geography for farming of fruits and vegetables, where the sun shines continuously to feed the fields that produce food such as plantain, avocado, yam and sesame seeds. Because of all this, the town has been credited the title “agricultural pantry of the department of Bolivar.”
The area is characterised as a subhumid or semi-arid savanna with medium to long dry seasons. In El Carmen de Bolívar there are few torrential rainfalls that fall during the year, therefore, most of the time you can see a landscape decorated with a clear sky.
Its people are the treasured jewel
Characterised by the Caribbean kindness of this Colombian region, the people of El Carmen de Bolívar are supportive, dedicated and resilient. Here, their farmers believe in hard work and the benefits that this brings to their economy and their society. The effort and determination they dedicate in all the work they do is reflected in the result of their hard work.
This is why, despite the adversities, they find that a better way to work the land is through unity, producing staple food of excellent quality. This is the case of farmers’ associations that have managed to establish a whole cooperative environment around agriculture and have restructured agricultural work from collaboration, support and cooperation.
Challenges faced by farmers
Despite their hard work, sometimes difficulties, such as access to roads, means of transport, or a lack of demand, prevent their products from going to market – whether local, national or international. These and other problems that the population faces hinder their work and affect the processes they carry out.
Developing user-centric technology
Our team from Farming Data conducted various workshops directly with the people in this area to find out more about their needs, the reality of their territory and the problems they face every day.
Being aware of the above has made it possible for us to plan and develop technological strategies that facilitate the appropriate marketing of their products.
By doing so, we can provide producers of El Carmen de Bolívar with a new sales mechanism that could help mitigate these problems.