Hass Avocado Project in Cesar to Receive Support from AGROSAVIA

Codazzi, Cesar. July 10, 2025. The municipality of Pueblo Bello, Cesar, was the chosen setting to consolidate and jointly build the Hass Avocado Project for the Sierra Nevada. This initiative is led by the Bioraiz Association, with the support of the Vice Ministry of Agriculture, the National Land Agency, AGROSAVIA, the Government of Cesar, the Mayor’s Office of Pueblo Bello, the Arhuaco ethnic community, producers, the National University (La Paz campus), Corpohass, and other entities that responded to this call.

Mario Augusto Zapata Tamayo, Director of the Motilonia Research Center, along with Delvis Ochoa Arévalo and Ekile Torres, ethnic-focused research assistants, played a key role during the development of the event, representing AGROSAVIA. This participation is in line with the commitments made by the Corporation to the multi-ethnic Bioraiz Association, starting with the assignment of an expert researcher in this production system from the La Selva Research Center (Antioquia). This researcher will soon lead three (3) promotional workshops on Hass Avocado, with the first expected to be held in Pueblo Bello for indigenous and rural communities. The second workshop is planned for Valledupar, targeting small producers and associations interested in the project. The third and final workshop will take place either in San José de Oriente or Media Luna.

Zapata Tamayo stated that "AGROSAVIA will also support the structuring of the project, where a polyculture model will be implemented. The goal is not only to develop a Hass Avocado production process but also to carry out soil restoration using agroforestry systems managed under agroecological practices that will strengthen food sovereignty in the region. In addition, we will complement family farming systems with beekeeping activities, and we will support the National University (La Paz campus) in processing avocado and other components of these polycultures to produce by-products such as bio-inputs and essential oils."

Preservation of Arhuaco Cosmovision and Ancestral Culture

It is of utmost importance to highlight the leading role played by the Arhuaco community in the municipality of Pueblo Bello, where the socialization, planting, and naming ceremony of the Kanyöna (Hass Avocado, Urinzawa) took place. This project originates from the vision of Arhuaco Indigenous peoples and farmers of the Sierra Nevada de Gonawindua (Santa Marta), aiming to unite the department’s producers. The project seeks not only economic stability but also a transformative opportunity to strengthen food sovereignty by offering a new perspective on rural life without abandoning ancestral principles. To achieve this, an agroecological product was needed—one that is Dunahköna (environmentally friendly) and accepted by Man-yakku (Mother Nature). It also had to foster a climate of peace through a fundamental principle: the protection of the source of life, Man-yakku. This alignment would help achieve the original vision of the project.

This project aims to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to shift from an extractivist economy to a productive one by implementing polyculture models with varieties such as Kankuku, Kantana, Kanyöna, Kumkuevita, Markuio, Mindúsi, and San (pigeon pea, plantain, avocado, cassava, beans, sweet potato, corn), among others. These crops will support food sovereignty in the departments of Cesar, La Guajira, and Magdalena, without losing the Sukankanáu (goal) of the Law of C (Law of Origin), which is to preserve the native crops of the communities. For this purpose, a humble and generous plant was chosen—the Hass avocado (Urinzawa).

Following this important space for dialogue, held in the spirit of Kaka Mauianjúnke (sweet word), and with expressions of support from various institutions—Nangwia (younger brothers) and Nengwia (older brothers)—a spiritual ceremony for the planting and naming of the Kanyöna (Hass avocado) was conducted by the Dugenika (Mamos—spiritual guides). The purpose of the ceremony was to ask Man-yakku (Mother Nature) for permission to introduce into the Kangöma (territory) a species that originates from outside and does not belong to the heart of the world, the Sierra Nevada de Gonawindua. With this spiritual ceremony completed, permission has been granted by the Neren cikak (spiritual fathers) to move forward with the project and achieve positive impacts for both the communities and the environment.