Indigenous association for the governance of the first people, Agro-Pueblos is developing the JAJAÑ project in the Sibundoy Valley, Southern Colombia, to holistically strengthen a local system of food production that in turn builds community resilience. The values guiding this work align with the cosmology of the Kamëntšá indigenous people located in the region.
The project will assemble a community nursery for the production of seeds and grains of food and medicinal species, which will then be distributed to the wider community. 120 families will be directly involved and it is hoped that the nursery will be able to reproduce around 12 food species and eight medicinal varieties with the aim that in four years time the entire community, made up of 1,267 families, will benefit from the project and the 24,000 plants distributed and planted; bringing about productive sustainability in the face of climate change.
Alongside raising access to food and medicinal species, the project seeks to support dynamic participation and knowledge exchange associated with the land and to nurture a spiritual bond with nature.
The JAJAÑ space will allow for JENABUATAMBAN (mutual teaching through mutual help in work), which in turn allows for social cohesion, and builds the structural importance of JAJAÑ for the permanence of the community.