Peasant Agroecological Associativity: The Experience of the Boquerón Region

Abstract

Written by the president of the Boquerón Region Peasant Agroecological Association (ACAB), this article presents the experience of transforming conventional agricultural practices in the Boquerón region, a rural area of the San Cristóbal corregimiento (Medellín), characterized by a smallholding peasant economy growing vegetables and flowers for the Medellín market. The author documents the process begun in 1991 with support from the Corporación Penca de Sábila, which led to the formation in 1995 of a group of twenty producing families and the formal establishment of ACAB in 2003, the same year the Col y Flor fair-trade shop was established. The text describes the six components of the agroecological proposal and presents as achievements an uninterrupted market since 1997, improved family income, and greater visibility for women's work.