Colombia
COVID-19 Relief in Colombia: Food security
Providing families in Colombia with food security through backyard farms during the COVID-19 pandemic
Crisis Response
The Need
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified an already dire food security crisis in Colombia, causing extreme shortages that have left thousands of vulnerable families in desperate need. The government has provided some support, but rural, isolated regions in the northern part of the country have been unable to access any help. Compassion’s frontline church partners in these communities have been distributing emergency food supplies to as many families as they can, but with limited resources at their disposal, providing this level of support was simply not sustainable.
Having access to sufficient nutritious food is necessary for children to be able to survive, grow, develop and thrive. Without a well-rounded diet, children can become chronically malnourished, which in turn causes health problems like severe stunted growth and weakened immunity, increasing vulnerability to infectious diseases including COVID-19. Hunger and malnutrition also impact children’s sleep patterns, brain development and school performance.
Food insecurity poses a massive threat to children’s future, hindering their holistic development in a profound way. As the impact of the pandemic continues over the months and years ahead, this crisis will only intensify for the world’s most vulnerable. In order to provide families in greatest need with a sustainable source of food, Compassion’s church partners in rural, northern Colombia knew they needed long-term solutions for hundreds of vulnerable families.
Our Response
With your support, 1,030 families from 45 churches in Colombia have been able to establish home gardens and begin rearing small animals on their own properties. While the proposal for this intervention included 741 beneficiary families from 35 churches, thanks to costs savings, the scope was expanded to include 289 additional families and 10 more church partners. To reflect this addition, the original timeline was expanded by 6 months.
Parents received virtual training on food production and sustainable farming practices through SENA, a Colombian public institution that develops vocational programs for the labour force. The classes were mostly virtual because of restrictions due to COVID-19. Church partners and SENA carried out training in breeding and management of minor species, customer service, bait pig breeding, broiler chickens and laying hens management, innovative entrepreneurship, project formulation and budget preparation, implementing urban productive animal units, stewardship, food handling and agricultural production for crops. After successfully completing their courses, parents received seeds and fertilizer, broiler hens, pigs and building materials for the animal sheds.
Under the ongoing support and monitoring of a professional agronomist, caregivers began preparing land for seeding and for constructing the garden areas and animal pens. When constructing the sheds, some caregivers were able to reuse building materials they already had, while others used recycled materials. Churches were also able to secure a good discount from their suppliers, who also absorbed the cost of transport as a donation to this project. These cost savings allowed 289 additional families to be included in this intervention.
An assessment showed 355 families at risk of malnutrition, so these families also received emergency food kits containing rice, oil, lentils, milk powder and pasta. These packages were distributed for three months, ensuring children and families had enough to eat while they were still preparing their gardens and animal sheds.
After just a few months, families who had planted vegetables saw their first yield, including eggplant, beans and cucumbers. Families were also able to enjoy fresh eggs and meat from their chickens. Some families have already begun selling their produce locally to earn income. By the end of July 2021, families were actively running their businesses and contributed cash or portions of their livestock and harvests to their local Compassion centres, which some centres used to support families with food and hygiene kits and even to support new families with gardens and chickens so they could benefit from this intervention, too. In the long run, it is expected that families will donate 10 per cent of their yield to their local Compassion centres, helping feed other children in need.
Activities
Sharing the blessing: Families with small gardens donated a percentage of their harvests to their local Compassion centres. This practice will be ongoing and will ensure that churches can continue providing nutritious meals for all children on centre days.
Monitoring and follow-up: Centre staff and technical advisors visited caregivers to inspect their farms, evaluate their yields and offer support where needed.
Training and graduation: Caregivers received training in agriculture and animal rearing from technical specialists. Those who completed the program successfully received diplomas for good farming practices.
Food and hygiene kits: Centre staff delivered food packages for families at risk of malnutrition so they could eat healthy meals until they were able to supplement their diets with the foods grown or raised on their backyard farms. Caregivers also received hygiene kits to help protect them from COVID-19. Staff took all necessary COVID-19 precautions.
Animal rearing: Some families received small animals to raise for meat and produce, including broiler hens, chickens and pigs. Children have been helping feed, wash and take care of their animals.
Home gardens: Families were provided with seeds, fertilizer and materials to start their own gardens at home. A professional agronomist monitored their progress and provided support where needed. Families worked together to prepare the land, plant the seeds, and tend to their crops as they grew. Children were excited and happy to help!
Your Gift Provides...
• Emergency food kits for 355 vulnerable beneficiaries and their families, for three months:
○ Rice, lentils, beans, peas, cornmeal, oat flakes, pasta, brown corn, eggs, milk, coffee, sugar, panela, oil, salt, chocolate bars
• Hygiene kits (facemasks, soap, hand sanitizer) for staff and families
• Virtual training program through SENA institute for 1,030 parents at 45 centres, including printed posters for beneficiaries
• Home gardens and farms for 1,030 families, including:
○ Soil analysis
○ Vegetable seeds and fertilizer for 161 families
○ 30 broiler chickens each for 803 families
○ 30 hens each for 29 families
○ 2 pigs each for 37 families
○ Animal feed
○ Supplies for garden and animal sheds
• Support from a professional agronomist for 1,030 families for nine months
• Banking expenses
• Monitoring and evaluation
ReportA message from a caregiver
Before this project was implemented, I lived from day to day. I had never thought of raising animals or selling them to meet some needs. I did not know how to raise a litter of chicken or understand all that this work entails.
My life has changed satisfactorily. Learning the care of chickens has been a great opportunity. I can enjoy extra economic resources that I did not have before, and now I can meet some needs in a better way. This intervention has improved our quality of life. Now our diet is much better, and we have begun to open up to new ideas such as raising pigs. The result is good and I feel more committed to my family.
This has been a very significant change for our family. Apart from the fact that we have better income, it is also an opportunity as a family to share in the care of animals, because it has become a job for everyone in which we all participate.
There have been many lessons learned in the development of this project. We have the technical knowledge of what is the best quality of chicks, the vaccines they need, the food they should consume, the medicines they need if they get sick and the space they need. We have also learned how to take advantage of what we have in the house to produce income, supporting each other as a family to get ahead and acknowledging the blessings we receive from God.
To the people who made this project possible, thank you very much! It has been a blessing to have your support. I hope that God will reward and multiply everything received, and that just as we could be blessed, this will continue to impact the lives of other families.
ReportThank you for your generosity
Your timely gift has made all the difference for these children and their families. With your help, they have been able to secure a sustainable source of food. Caregivers have the opportunity to build small businesses and increase their income over the long term, improving their quality of life. The professional training they have received will have a lasting impact, empowering them to set and achieve new goals.
This intervention has had an immediate and profound impact on children’s health and well-being; 80 per cent of beneficiaries who had presented signs of malnutrition have now overcome it and are doing well. With a source of food now readily available at home, caregivers no longer have to worry where their next meal will come from. As they continue to put their training into practice and cultivate their land in a sustainable way, they will also contribute to local food security in their communities.
Through your generosity, you have also provided churches with an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ to the most vulnerable. Local leaders and community members have taken notice, increasing the reputation of churches and drawing attention to everything they are doing to serve and build their communities.
Over the months and years to come, your gift will continue to have an impact as families become self-sustaining and are able to give to others out of their own overflow. Thank you for reaching out with the love of Jesus!
ReportA message from a centre director
Since the beginning of the intervention, each beneficiary and their family has been positively impacted, because their way of thinking about work and solving their basic needs has changed. They have learned that with the good use of the economic and material resources that are available at home, great things can be achieved. It was possible to secure the trust of families towards the church, as they let themselves be guided in the process. Amid the pandemic, it allowed us to approach families to impact their lives with the Word of God and motivate them to continue working and generating income from the comfort and safety of home.
With the development of this activity, the trust of parents and the community towards the church has increased. Each family can have continuous food security and enjoy economic stability. Through the development of new skills, both parents and the community have been able to feel supported through this intervention and other humanitarian aid. Having the opportunity to continue educating families has allowed more involvement of parents in our activities.
This intervention has been very significant for me in my role as a director. It has allowed me to see how the thinking of the beneficiaries and their families has been opened through an activity that generates income and with which they can solve their needs. I think this is what it is all about, teaching them so that they can achieve cognitive and economic development. They do not have to wait for help but can work to get the necessary resources as we encourage entrepreneurship and the use of what is available.
The help you have provided to these families is a blessing and will fill their lives with satisfaction. The expected results were obtained in the families that were prepared to continue with the process.