How does an earthquake affect food systems and what does recovery take?
The August 10 earthquake in Colombia affected urban and rural communities across Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, Caldas, and Quindío. As humanitarian efforts address the most urgent needs, an equally important phase is beginning: rebuilding economies and livelihoods. That means helping people, communities, and food systems recover, build new strengths, and keep functioning with tools that make them less vulnerable to future extreme events. From emergency to resilience. Part one.
- food systems
- Resilience and recovery
How does an earthquake affect food systems and what does recovery take?
The August 10 earthquake in Colombia affected urban and rural communities across Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, Caldas, and Quindío. As humanitarian efforts address the most urgent needs, an equally important phase is beginning: rebuilding economies and livelihoods. That means helping people, communities, and food systems recover, build new strengths, and keep functioning with tools that make them less vulnerable to future extreme events. From emergency to resilience. Part one.
“We’re rebuilding so we can move forward.” Yimmy Zuluaga, who grows chontaduro (peach palm fruit) in San José del Palmar in Colombia’s Chocó department, is talking about more than rebuilding the walls of his home that came down in the earthquake. He is talking about getting back to growing and selling his crop so he can keep making a living from the land.
This area, at the epicenter of the magnitude 7.4 earthquake, is still grappling with its aftermath. Yimmy’s chontaduro harvest is still there, as are those of all the other local growers. And that is precisely the problem.
The earthquake struck just as the main harvest was beginning. For more than a decade, this fruit has provided rural families in San José del Palmar with an important alternative source of income.
According to the public agricultural extension service (UMATA), more than 200 families who depend directly on this crop now have nowhere to send their fruit. Valle del Cauca and Colombia’s Coffee Region, the main markets for chontaduro, were also hit by the earthquake. With more pressing concerns in these cities, enjoying chontaduro with honey and salt has taken a back seat.
Demand has fallen, and so have prices. Only 40% to 50% of the harvest is expected to sell, pushing down what buyers are willing to pay. Before the earthquake, an arroba—a unit of weight used locally to sell the fruit, equivalent to about 11.5 kg—fetched COP 80,000 (US$25). Today, growers are getting just COP$ 40,000 (US$12.50).