- The activity was carried out as part of the project “Misión: Jóvenes al Campo” (Mission: Youth to the Countryside), with a visit to the AMAPURI agro-industrial processing plant in Puerto Asís.
Puerto Asís, Putumayo. September 10, 2026. In an effort to curb rural exodus and harness local talent, Corporación colombiana de investigación agropecuaria – AGROSAVIA, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is leading an initiative that goes beyond technical knowledge transfer: it is fostering a sense of belonging to the territory. Through the project “Misión: Jóvenes al Campo,” the organizations have been conducting capacity-building and agro-enterprise experience-sharing activities, this time in Puerto Asís (Putumayo), connecting new generations with the productive potential of their own land.
The core of this model, currently being implemented, is strengthening educational processes in 25 educational institutions across different regions of the country, positioning agricultural science, technology, and innovation as the foundation for young people to transform their perception of the rural environment. By integrating these tools into the classroom, young people not only rediscover the potential of their territory, but also develop an entrepreneurial mindset capable of structuring productive and sustainable opportunities with genuine added value.
Recently, students from the rural educational institutions El Cuembí and Nueva Granada visited the AMAPURI agro-industrial processing plant, a regional benchmark for processing açaí and palm hearts. However, this visit was not simply a tour: it was an immersion into the Amazonian business model, where the young participants were able to observe, from the reception of raw materials to the final packaging, how scientific knowledge and the sustainable use of natural resources generate added value and decent employment within the territory.
AGROSAVIA’s work stands out for bringing together two key areas:
On the one hand, it strengthens entrepreneurial competencies, showing students that it is possible to innovate without migrating. The experience at AMAPURI demonstrated the complete circular economy cycle by transforming processing residues into organic fertilizers, offering a practical lesson that directly connects to the territorial challenges each institution is addressing.
On the other hand, support for territorial productive challenges designed in the classroom. At El Cuembí, young people are researching the effect of different substrates on cacao rootstock production; raising chickens with forage supplementation at the smallholder-farming scale; and recovering ethnobotanical knowledge, preserving ancestral knowledge as a driver of innovation.
At Nueva Granada, the focus is on food security: the functional diversification of gardens for human consumption and for meliponine bees (native stingless bees), together with fish farming supported by nutritional supplements.
Behind every activity lies a clear purpose: to see the countryside not as a place of origin but as a destination full of opportunities. AGROSAVIA is not only transferring technology; it is weaving a network of knowledge, experience, and trust that enables these young people to envision their professional future in the territory where they grew up.
At the end of the day, the students’ smiles as they toured the AMAPURI plant were not merely expressions of curiosity; they reflected a possible future. When knowledge meets the land, territorial development ceases to be a concept and becomes a decision: the decision to stay, to undertake, and to transform their own territory.
- More information here:
- José Dario Ule Rodriguez
- Communications, Identity and Corporate Relations Professional
- Office Florencia
- Communications, Identity and Corporate Relations Advisory Office
- jule@agrosavia.co
- AGROSAVIA
