To the south of Tolima There is an association that builds the community and exports a part of the Planadas land to the world.
This is Asopep, a group that It consists of 350 members: 100 dedicated to cocoa and 249 to coffee cultivation, who helped improve their cultivation techniques.
This is how coffee and cocoa reached Europe, North America and Asia exactly in countries like Switzerland, Germany, Dubai, France, Spain, Australia and the United States.
This influenced the department It is the third largest grain producer in the entire country according to the National Federation of Coffee Growers.
According to Camilo Enciso, president of the association, it is working various social, economic and ecological projects.
“We started aid projects that reach farms through the Ministry of Agriculture, with INCODER to provide inputs and materials to producers and the Rural Development Agency for producers,” said the president.
How was it born?
In 2012, in the midst of armed conflict, the Colombian government signed the Plan del Sur Contract to promote the development of regions that have suffered the damage of war.
The Plan del Sur Contract was the beginning of it all. “We said, man, let’s gather a group of coffee growers to ask the State for the social need to grow coffee,” Camilo recalled.
In the beginning, 72 farmers met on December 7, 2012 to discuss the creation of ASOPEP.
“It’s very easy to participate, you just need to be in the production chain, anyone can do it. To participate you only need to pay $11,000,” he said.
Of this fee, $2,000 is monthly, $5,000 is for assets and $4,000 is for membership. So it is very easy to understand the growth.
ASOPEP began with the goal of improving the living conditions of coffee farmers in Planadas.
How does Asopep help the community?
Asopep is committed to the plans and the territory. In order to contribute to the future of rural children, They created the Building Future School ro, where they teach roasting, coffee harvesting and the art of the barista.
“We learned how coffee arrives at the winery, when it does it is called parchment coffee and we learned about weighing, grinding and roasting it,” explained Sharleny Olaya, building student in future school.
Likewise, the and offering art classes to partner’s children to contribute to their skills and hobbies.
As a result of the peace agreement, the organization, the farmers of Planadas, the indigenous council and Ex-combatants create a brand of coffee called ‘The Third Agreement’.
It has the support of the United Nations, the University of Ibagué and the Reintegration Agency.
In the same way, The association actively participates in the construction of bridges connecting the roads and municipalities south of Tolima.
Planadas is similar to coffee
Unfortunately, over the years, The Planadas and the south of Tolima are synonymous with war and violence. “Before, they would see your ID and call you a guerrilla,” said Camilo Enciso, president of ASOPEP.
However, today, thanks to the work done by coffee associations in the south of the department, the collective imagination has changed. It is no longer considered a land of war, but a place of coffee.
Achievements of the association
Throughout its history, Asopep has been listed as one of the 20 ventures in the 2023 Cocoa Sustainable Innovation Challenge. They achieved the award for excellent performance in Expotolima, the heart of coffee.
Also, they are the first organization in Colombia to be certified as Regenerative Organic Coffee.
The main achievement of the association was to make Planada smell like coffee and not world war.
