I worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cordoba, Colombia which has similar problems as the Choco. Attached are some ideas that may be of use to Colombia in the future which I presented to top officials in the Colombian Government at the Friends of Colombia Return Peace Core Volunteer conference (see http://www.friendsofcolombia.org/.) They were very interested. More details and other ideas are presented on my web site http://home.comcast.net/~prigter/site/ 1. Creation of demonstration Backyard Poultry Farms (similar to the 30,000 backyard poultry farms created by the UN FAO in Afghanistan) 2. Production and use of drip irrigation kits (2,000,000 sold in India for $1/each) (Larry Arnold, Inter-American Foundation, noted the importance of drip irrigation in Guatemala during the FOC conference). (see below) 3. Creation of fruit tree nurseries that give Bottom of the Pyramid farmers an advantage in selling their products on the world market. (See my web site for details), 4., Colombian students could contribute articles to a Spanish language wikipedia or a “Friends of Colombia” wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombian_cuisine 2701655.html?referrer=emailarticle... Feel free to ask me any questions. Thanks again for your work. ------------------------------------------------------- Appendix – Micro drip irrigation International Development Enterprises has developed inexpensive micro-drip irrigation systems for many water scarce areas. These systems include drum kits, bucket kits, kits made with double layered plastic bags (called Family Nutrition Kits), as well as customized micro irrigation systems. In particular, International Development Enterprises India (IDEI) has developed customized systems, costing from $5 for 20 sq.m. to $80 for 1000 sq.m. that will enable a family to grow produce for their own use or for a cash crop. In addition, IDEI sells a variety of treadle pumps for use by small farmers in areas where water is available at or near the surface. Equally important, IDEI has developed a program called “Integrating Poor into Market Systems (IPMAS)” that provides help in overcoming market constraints as well as water constraints. Programs of this nature need to be developed for major refugee centers (including the World Vision Center at the Nelson Mandela school outside of Cartagena) so that the most poor can get back on their feet after an economic or political disaster. It is suggested that major NGOs should buy large quantities of IDE equipment as well as other needed supplies and use it to develop nurseries and small gardens at refugee centers to demonstrate to the poor that the technology can significantly improve their income. In addition, major NGOs should supply some of this equipment to villages used for resettlement, schools, and community centers so that the refugee and other poor people can begin to work their way out of poverty. These ideas will only work if the proper supply chains and training also are provided. http://www.ide-india.org/ide/pt/index.shtml http://www.ide-india.org/ide/drip.shtml http://www.ideorg.org/