Rio Hondo: Old Time Farming

In the days of Old MacDonald, farmers raised pigs and chickens, oats and beans. Industrialized agriculture has steadily eroded the family farm that flourishes with a bit-of-everything. In the coffee-growing region of Colombia, there are now smart, small-land holders who are practicing varied agriculture, interspersing the rows with orange and banana trees. They also raise a variety of other fruits, vegetables and flowers and take great care of their livestock. Also pictured is a bio-gas bladder that takes advantage of the pig-poop and shaded ponds for tilapia farming. The women produce delicious "panela", an unprocessed sweetener from sugarcane. Overnight visits are welcomed and free-range eggs are served for breakfast. 

Farmers can sell their produce directly to customers of the outskirts of the cities, receiving 100% of the profit. The in-city marketeers are resisting direct sales as it threatens their profit margins, but even this may change before long.

Nashira, women's eco-village

A half-hour north of Cali, Colombia, in the agricultural village of El Bolo, a sizeable group of women have been laboring for 6 years to create an eco-village on the grounds of a former finca. It's a "sweat-equity" project for single Moms whose great dream is to own their own home. The project was initiated by Angela Dolmetsch de Cuevas, a local lawyer and activist who also started ASOMUCAF,  a non-profit that helps women within Cali. ASOMUCAF offers a store where they sell lovely handmade art papers from recycled materials.

During 2009 and 2010 I was invited to participate at Nashira under the auspices of a sub-project, La Vida es Teatro, directed by Veronica Wiman, an independent curator from Sweden, who now makes her home in Cali. An ardent champion of women's rights, Veronica invites various artists, designers and architects to contribute to the childrens' area at Nashira. In 2009 we were able to design and finance the construction of a play structure that gives the children a wonderful, shaded and elevated "place of their own". It is made from guadua, the local timber bamboo, an economical and entirely ecological material. Eco-Bamboo in La Candelaria was a tremendous resource, lending tools and expertise to the project. 

In 2010 we had less funding and a more modest goal: to make an educational garden in the field next to the play structure. We created a small garden in the shape of a butterfly and planted it with a wide variety of perennials that should attract even more insects. The plants were provided by Plantas Selectas, the compost came from Nashira's quail pens, and the border was made from locally felled eucalyptus trucks. With care, more rain and luck (always), there should be a lovely garden next year so the children can study, write and draw the phases in butterfly growth.

Water Issues

Water Recycling

A model treatment plant at Recinto del Pensamiento outside Manizales takes all the graywater from the facility and passes it through a series of filtering and oxygenation ponds. This multi-use eco-park was created by the region's large coffee growers and is a showplace for herbal plantings, butterflies, bonsai, bamboo, orchids and bird watching.

Water Conservation

When there was a water shortage, a former Mayor of Bogota, Antanus Mockus appeared on TV programs taking a shower and turning off the water as he soaped, asking his fellow citizens to do the same. In just two months people were using 14 percent less water, a savings that increased when people realized how much money they were also saving because of economic incentives approved by Mockus; water use is now 40 percent less than before the shortage.

"The distribution of knowledge is the key contemporary task," Mockus said. "Knowledge empowers people. If people know the rules, and are sensitized by art, humor, and creativity, they are much more likely to accept change."

This wise water-use comic appears in Bogota's public bathrooms.

Composting Toilets

While not yet widely used, this is a model two-chamber composting toilet that was constructed in the growing eco-village of Nashira in the Valle del Cauca...complete with comic-book instructions that you can read while using. Manual water flush for pee and sawdust for solid waste.

And the Bad News...

Many rivers are still badly polluted by industry, agriculture  and low income settlements along the banks. The government fines are simply paid by the factory owners who continue to discharge.

This is the Rio Cauca as it passes through Barrio Juanchito as one exits Cali travelling north towards Palmira. The government has announced plans in 2009 to clean this 800km river, but....

 

Transportation

Medellin and Manizales, both hilltop cities, have state-of-the-art aerial trams, enabling residents to travel affordably and safety over the steep terrain - and their availability must ultimately reduce the number of buses belching black exhaust. The examples shown here are from Manizales.

Urban Agriculture

Citizens of Bogota are offered excellent instruction in the techniques of affordable, organic food production. I.P.E.S., a non-profit organization, and the Jardin Botanica (Municipal Botanical Gardens) make important contributions by adding green to a rice and protein diet.

Urban Parks

“If we in the Third World measure our success or failure as a society in terms of income, we would have to classify ourselves as losers until the end of time,” declares Enrique Peñalosa, former Mayor of Bogota. “So with our limited resources, we have to invent other ways to measure success. This might mean that all kids have access to sports facilities, libraries, parks, schools, nurseries.”
Peñalosa uses phrases like “quality of life” or “social justice". "Happiness itself is a commons to which everyone should have equal access."

During Penalosa's term, 1200 parks and playgrounds reportedly were upgraded or added. It seems like there is some green space within a short walk for most citizens, including the core city. Given the population density and intense traffic, these public spaces are a delight - and a necessity.

So much to praise. Still so much to accomplish.

Saludos!

Intensive farming in Rio Hondo outside Manizales.

I have just returned from another stunning month in Colombia. I was able to cover a lot of territory, visiting Bogota twice, Manizales in the Coffee region, Cali and the sugarcane fields of the Valle del Cauca in the Southwest and remote fishing villages on the Pacific Coast, north of the port, Buenaventura. I was also fortunate to speak with some of the leading ecological practitioners in the country and gain some remarkable insights. The purpose of this blog is to share this growing body of information with a wider public, especially those who may only associate Colombia with the war on drugs and large scale defoliation.

The entries are organized by theme: Transportation, Organic Farming, Urban Agriculture, Ecologically Appropriate Construction  - and more.

Please share your helpful comments so we can all become better informed and inspired!