Sweden’s Ambassador to Colombia, Marie Andersson, presented a program Tuesday that will contribute over $6 million dollars to a program that seeks to return displaced farmers to their stolen lands.
The plan, created in alliance with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, will give $6.3 million dollars to the restitution of land in the geographically varied Colombian states of Antioquia, Choco, Cesar, Magdalena, Sucre, Cordoba, Tolima, Norte de Santander, Nariño, Putumayo, Bolivar y Meta.
These states have been highly affected by Colombia’s armed conflict and have large populations of people whose land had been unjustly seized or extorted by different illegal armed groups.
A Colombian representative affirmed that “giving support for those who would receive land, can allow them to cultivate and obtain other benefits,” according to radio station Caracol Radio.
This cooperative will last at least four years, but both countries plan on creating other “productive projects” for Colombia in the coming years, according to Caracol Radio.
Over 1,300 families will be directly affected by this influx of funding, and this new initiative will help optimize the productivity of the land once given back to those who were robbed of their own property.
Seven-hundred indigenous and Afro-Descendant families will be also specifically included in Sweden’s diplomatic gesture.
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