San Juan del Cesar advances toward the consolidation of an inclusive agricultural Territorial Innovation System (TIS)

In the municipality of San Juan del Cesar, department of La Guajira, progress is being made in consolidating an agricultural Territorial Innovation System (TIS), starting with the opening of a “circle of dialogue” with various stakeholders related to science, technology, and innovation in this sector at the local and regional levels. These activities are part of the project “Management and Updating of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) at the Territorial Level within the MECTIA Framework,” whose specific objective is “to define and implement a strategy for territorial STI dynamization that includes a prospective vision of the territory’s STI.”

Jointly, an interdisciplinary team from different areas of the Motilonia Research Center and AGROSAVIA’s central headquarters is promoting the consolidation of the TIS through various participatory workshops. Robinson Gómez Peña, Regional Innovation Coordinator of the Motilonia Research Center, stated that the first workshop, entitled “A Territorial Perspective of Agricultural Science, Technology, and Innovation: Opening the Circle of Dialogue in San Juan del Cesar – SWOT,” brought together 32 participants, including farmers’ organizations, rural women, members of the Wiwa and Kankuamo Indigenous communities, Afro-descendant community councils, as well as territorial government entities such as the Economic Development Secretariats of the Government of La Guajira and the Mayor’s Office of San Juan del Cesar. Educational institutions such as UNAD, INFOTEP, and Ana Joaquina School; associations such as Asohofrucol, Fedegán, and the Coffee Growers Federation; international cooperation entities such as FAO; private companies represented by the Chamber of Commerce of La Guajira and Cerrejón; and Corpoguajira, as the environmental authority of the territory, also participated in this workshop.

Ana María Jiménez, Professional from AGROSAVIA’s Institutional Articulation Department (IAD), indicated that “participation in this exercise represents the best methodological path to address issues related to science, technology, and innovation under the SNIA law, with the broad and diverse participation of stakeholders.”

Using the SWOT methodology, approximately 224 items were consolidated regarding strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for agricultural STI in San Juan del Cesar. From these, the most relevant variables will be identified and validated in a subsequent exercise. In a participatory manner, 25 productive systems of importance for the municipality were also identified, and of these, six were prioritized by consensus:

1. Fique
2. Cucurbits
3. Cassava
4. Maize
5. Ethnic and Community-Based Family Farming (ECBFF)
6. Dual-purpose livestock

As part of the consolidation of the STI of San Juan del Cesar, and with the aim of better understanding the limitations and opportunities in terms of STI from the sustainability dimensions (social, environmental, and economic/productive) of the prioritized systems, Robinson Gómez pointed out that “advancing with the process proposed by the Wise Men’s Mission, aimed at the democratization of science, five participatory workshops were held in different districts of the municipality.” This process included the participation of Luz Andrea Yepes, Institutional Planning and Cooperation Professional from the IAD at the central headquarters; María Ledezma, Technology Transfer Professional; Luis Fernando Gómez, Researcher; and Clara V. Rúa Bustamante, Researcher from the Motilonia Research Center.

The workshops fostered dialogue of knowledge and the exchange of experiences to identify and build territorial R&D&I demands. With the participation of approximately 150 people, including farmers, members of ethnic communities, extension workers, and associations such as Asohofrucol and Fedegán, dialogue spaces on STI were held mainly in rural areas of the municipality. These included:

• La Junta, where fique is traditionally grown and handicrafts are made with this fiber.
• La Peña, where the Watermelon Festival is celebrated, and the largest cucurbit production is concentrated.
• El Totumo and surrounding veredas (small suburban countryside district), a key territory for ECBFF production systems.
• Corralejas, near Serranía del Perijá, where the dialogue focused on cassava and maize crops.
• The municipal capital, where dual-purpose livestock was addressed, given its wide coverage and importance in the territory.

For participants and AGROSAVIA’s team, this participatory exercise was highly significant. Councilman and community leader from El Totumo, Jhon Mestre, emphasized that “these activities brought science closer to the territories, identifying and reaffirming priority issues such as water resource management and soil health, in a degraded tropical dry forest ecosystem with variable climatic conditions.”

The spaces also raised demands for strategies on product marketing and commercialization, social appropriation and management of knowledge, and the need to implement and apply the SNIA Law, specifically the rural extension and technical assistance subsystem, the latter being a widespread demand among participants. In addition, issues related to the management of productive systems, plant and animal health problems, zoogenetic and phytogenetic resources, rescue of native seeds, environmental and sustainable management, business development, agroindustry, and capacity building were addressed.

The process of consolidating the STI will continue with the co-construction and validation of variables for the prospective vision of the territory, through a workshop to be held on September 4 in San Juan del Cesar. Likewise, progress will be made in the joint structuring of the future scenario, which will be available by the end of 2025 for consultation by the various stakeholders of agricultural STI and its possible implementation.