Cota is a municipality with indigenous and peasant traditions located 23 kilometers from the city of Bogotá. Until recently, it was known as the closest agricultural supplier to the country's capital. However, in response to the fast-paced rhythms of the city, accumulation logics, market dynamics, and new consumption trends, ancestral forms of production harmonized with the land have been lost and replaced by monocultures of crops such as chard, spinach, or cilantro, which are considered more profitable due to their short production cycles.

Through participatory field research conducted in 2022, involving approximately 94 people from the municipality of Cota, "high levels of dependence on agrochemicals in agricultural production processes" were identified. It was found that none of the farmers reproduce their own seeds for cultivation. The production process relies on commercial seeds, which are not only expensive but also require the specific and conditioned use of certain agrochemicals from planting to harvest.

The active components of the 29 agrochemicals reported by farmers have extensive scientific studies highlighting their impacts on human health, both for producers and consumers of the cultivated products, as well as the negative environmental impacts on soil, water sources, native fauna, pollinators, and local ecosystems. Among the agrochemicals used and reported by farmers, acephate stood out. Its safety data sheet indicates it as a highly toxic product, lethal to bees, mutagenic, easily leachable into groundwater, and requiring the use of protective clothing and eye gear. 100% of the respondents acknowledged not using any biosafety measures when handling these products, reflecting the significant lack of knowledge regarding the harmful effects these products cause on health and the environment.

The high dependence on such agrochemicals in production processes directly contributes to the loss of ancestral and cultural knowledge associated with crop cycles, the loss of genetic diversity in production, and the depletion of nutrients and microbiota in the soil. Additionally, the profitability of crops is affected by the current rise in the costs of agroinputs, most of which are imported and therefore subject to fluctuations in the exchange rate and market availability.

Under the current Municipal Development Plan, a total of 240 training sessions per year have been conducted on good agricultural practices and the preparation of bioinputs. However, it is evident that these alternative production processes have not been adequately recognized. In the minds of conventional producers, there is a presumption that using agrochemicals is more profitable and less exhausting than using agroecological alternatives.

Pillar 1: Strengthening and raising awareness of existing agroecological gardens in the municipality.

• Activity 1: Exemplary Gardens: Plan to strengthen and showcase agroecological gardens in Cota as alternative and regenerative production mechanisms. Over the first 4 months, in collaboration with SAMADE and the Indigenous Reserve, La Cabaña del Castor will conduct mapping and recognition activities of the gardens, allowing for the formulation of a plan and subsequent training for agroecological gardeners in the municipality to serve as guides for conventional agricultural producers.
• Activity 2: Chemical-Free Rows: Monitoring and evaluation of test crop rows treated 100% with bioinputs from La Cabaña del Castor, at the discretion of interested agricultural producers who may consider acquiring them later. Currently, we have 11 test rows in small and medium-sized plots, and we have more to implement in larger farmable estates, such as that of councilman and farmer Severo Sepúlveda. The funding for these trial bioinputs has come from La Cabaña del Castor's resources, but it is not economically feasible for us to continue this dynamic.
• Activity 3: Agro-Pedagogical Field Trips: Field trips for learning and recognition purposes with agricultural producers from the Municipality of Cota and the women from the community biofactory to farms and communities that are already implementing agroecological processes and crops using bioinputs. These trips are funded by the Municipal Government of Cota and guided by the Department of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies of the National Ministry of Environment. These activities have already been coordinated with the respective governmental organizations.

Pillar 2: Promoting community production of sufficient bioinputs to meet market demands as an efficient alternative mechanism for agricultural production.

• Activity 4: Biofactory for Clean and Sustainable Agriculture in Cota: Establishing a community biofactory. Over the first 6 months, La Cabaña del Castor will train rural women in the production, preservation, and use of bioinputs. This process will result in an initial batch of biopreparations for demonstrative distribution. Over the next 6 months, the infrastructure and assembly of the biofactory will be established on the land of the Mhuysqa Indigenous Reserve of Cota, granted on loan for a period of 5 years.

Pillar 3: Training and raising awareness among the residents of Cota regarding the harmful effects of agrochemicals on health and the environment, basic principles of agroecology, autonomy, and food sovereignty.

• Activity 5: Awareness Campaign: Do You Know How Your Food is Grown? Establishing a sensitization plan on the harmful effects of agrochemicals. During the second semester, with the support of the Health and Education Departments, information and awareness campaigns will be developed and implemented regarding the harmful effects of agrochemicals on human health, the environment, and food.

Pillar 4: Promoting the establishment of new agricultural paradigms that recover the agricultural traditions of the Cundiboyacense highlands and their relationship with the local ecosystem.

• Activity 6: Majuy Ucansuca Chogue: The Knowledge and Power Lie Within You. Promoting the recovery of cultural and ancestral agricultural traditions in the municipality of Cota. Starting in the second quarter of the year, monthly activities will be carried out to commemorate ancestral knowledge linked to agriculture and traditional gastronomy, with the support of the Municipal Culture Department.

Direct results

Pillar 1:

• 10 recognition sessions of existing agroecological gardens in Cota conducted.
  
• 1 strengthening and visibility plan designed.
• 12 training sessions generated jointly by SAMADE, the indigenous reserve, and La Cabaña del Castor.
• 20 gardeners trained.
• 20 gardens strengthened through the provision of bioinputs tailored to their specific needs.

Pillar 2:

• 1 community bioinput factory established in the municipality of Cota.
  
• 1 land in the indigenous reserve designated and approved by the council authorities for the construction of the biofactory.
• 10 rural or indigenous women directly participating and joining as partners in the biofactory.
• 1st batch of bioinputs produced in the initial phase: demonstrative phase (approximately 600 bioinputs ready for consumption).

Pillar 3:

• 1 sensitization plan created jointly with the health, education, and La Cabaña del Castor departments.
  
• 5 training sessions conducted with conventional farmers.
• 20 sessions targeted at consumers.
• 2 awareness campaigns disseminated through institutional physical and digital media.
• 10 sensitization talks held in schools.
• 5 agro-pedagogical field trips.

Pillar 4:

• 6 spaces for the recovery and exchange of native seeds.
  
• 2 keynote lectures by experts in Mhuysqa ancestral traditions.
• 1 nursery for native food and medicinal species in partnership with SAMAD.
• 1 incentive program created within the framework of peasant festivals to promote ancestral gastronomy and alternative agricultural production.

Expected impact

• 75% of the producers in Cota have replaced 50% of agrochemicals with bioinputs in 5 years.
• 80% of the producers who have experimented with the use of bioinputs in test plots continue to voluntarily use bioinputs in their entire cultivation plots.
• 20% reduction in monocultures in Cota in 2 years.

• The Municipal Mayor's Office of Cota, led by SAMADE, the Secretary of Health, and the Secretary of Education.
• Government of Cundinamarca.
• Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development at the national level.

• Irma Jineth Robles Neuque, legal representative of La Cabaña del Castor (lacabanadelcastor@gmail.com)
• Ingrid Dianey Gómez Neuque, advisor of the Mhuysqa Indigenous Reserve of Cota (ingridianey@hotmail.es)

TEAMS FROM MEXICO, COLOMBIA AND ARGENTINA PRESENT PROGRESS AND TRANSFORMATIVE OBJECTIVES