The Participatory Guarantee System (SPG) as an administrative strategy in the rural coffee-growing territories of Cauca, Colombia
Introduction: The peasant economy, agroecological production, the relationship between grassroots social organizations, resilience to climate change and food sovereignty, are practices and proposals that are strengthened in the coffee territories of the department of Cauca, Colombia. However, in the first territorial scale, the farm as an integrated production system, and in a second, the territory; The socio-economic dynamics of Cauca coffee farming are incipient in relation to the own certifications that allow mitigating the problems of marketing agroecological and organic products, and strengthening the direct relationship between producers and consumers. Methodology: That is why this study proposes a route towards a Participatory Guarantee System (SPG), as a strategy and certification tool for local agri-food products where the collective action of the communities is highlighted, ties are consolidated of trust between producers and consumers, inducing new theories of organizational and territorial management. Cauca coffee growers not only produce coffee, their local economy is part of the commercialization of other products from their farms; and currently in conventional markets where they generally participate, their products are not being recognized by consumers as made with agroecological practices. As a reference to generate the route, two experiences were systematized in SPG, from the departments of Risaralda and Valle del Cauca, in Colombia, which are led by agroecological farmers in the region. Results: In this Participatory Action-Research (PAR) modality, it was possible to highlight success factors for the implementation of a PGS and qualitatively analyze the systematized case study. In the case of Caucanos coffee growers, there is a need to explore the identification of commercial circuits that allow them to sell their products in channels that reduce the participation of intermediaries and bring the producer closer with a sale based on direct consumer confidence.
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