cocaine production in Colombia
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In 2012, coca production in Colombia amounted to 0.2% of Colombia's overall GDP and 3% of Colombia's GDP related to the agricultural sector. The great majority of
coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...
cultivation takes place in the departments of Putumayo, Caquetá, Meta, Guaviare, Nariño, Antioquia, and Vichada.Roberto Steiner and Hernan Vallejo. "Illegal drugs". In Hudson, Rex A. (ed.)
''Colombia: A Country Study''
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Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unit ...
(2010). page 188-190


History

Before the 1990s, harvesting coca leaves had been a relatively small-scale business in Colombia.Ann C. Mason. "Internal Armed Conflict". In Hudson, Rex A. (ed.)
''Colombia: A Country Study''
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unit ...
(2010). page 330-333
Though
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
and Bolivia dominated coca-leaf production in the 1980s and early 1990s, manual-eradication campaigns there, the successful rupture of the air bridge that previously facilitated the illegal transport of Bolivian and Peruvian coca leaf to Colombia, and a fungus that wiped out a large percentage of Peru's coca crops made it more difficult for the cartels to obtain coca from these countries.Arlene B. Tickner. "Internal armed conflict and peace negotiations." In Hudson, Rex A. (ed.)
''Colombia: A Country Study''
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unit ...
(2010) p 259-263.
In response, Colombia's drug cartels purchased land in Colombia to expand local production, pushing coca cultivation into areas of southern Colombia controlled by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...
(FARC). Colombia replaced Bolivia and Peru as the primary producer of coca leaf between 1996 and 1997, but fell back behind Peru again in 2012.Peru Overtakes Colombia as Top Cocaine Producer
NBC News (31 July 2012)
With only 14 percent of the global coca-leaf market in 1991, by 2004 Colombia was responsible for 80 percent of the world's cocaine production. One estimate has Colombia's coca cultivation hectarage growing from in the mid-1980s, to in 1998, to 99,000 in 2007. The US Department of State estimated in its 2015 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report that the area devoted to coca cultivation remained relatively stable in 2013, increasing only three percent from in 2012 to in 2013, with an increase primarily in
Norte de Santander North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities. North Santander is bordered by Vene ...
, national parks, indigenous reserves, within a 10-kilometer zone along the border with
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
where aerial spraying is prohibited, and along the Pacific coast, and it was decreasing in the center of the country. , 2014 production and cultivation estimates were not available. Another estimate has Colombia's coca cultivation area growing from 40,100 in 1990 to 163,300 in 2000, but dropping to 78,000 in 2007 as a result of government eradication programs. Overall, any decrease due to eradication has been tempered by an increase in productivity, as estimated coca production grew from 463 metric tons in 2001 to 610 metric tons in 2006. A 2017
UNODC The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the ...
report into the cultivation of illicit crops in Colombia showed that the number of hectares under coca cultivation leapt from 96,000 in 2015 to 146,000 in 2016. As of 2006, coca production in Colombia employed an estimated 67,000 households. According to U.S. government reports, children are employed in the production of coca in Colombia.


Coca eradication programs

The Colombian government has programs to eradicate coca by mechanical means (burning or cutting) or with herbicides, such as
glyphosate Glyphosate (IUPAC name: ''N''-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and crop desiccant. It is an organophosphorus compound, specifically a phosphonate, which acts by inhibiting the plant enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshik ...
sprayed by airplanes and helicopters. In 2014, Colombia aerially eradicated 55,532 ha and manually eradicated 11,702 ha of coca in 2014, falling short of its goal of 14,000 ha. As obstacles to manual eradication the US Department of State listed local level protests blocking access roads to coca fields, and security concerns on the Ecuador-Colombia border and in the Catatumbo region near the Venezuela-Colombia border. Also, because of Colombia's national elections, 669 members of the
Colombian national police The National Police of Colombia (Spanish: ''Policía Nacional de Colombia'') is the national police force of the Republic of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military Forces of Colombia (Army, Navy, and Air Force), it ...
’s primary interdiction force, the Anti-Narcotics Directorate's (DIRAN) Jungla commando force, and between 45,000 and 60,000 police officers during the three-month presidential campaign and voting period had been unavailable for manual coca eradication The aerial spraying of glyphosate herbicide is one of the most controversial methods of coca eradication. It has taken place because of Colombia's willingness to cooperate with the US in the militarized eradication of coca after signing
Plan Colombia Plan Colombia was a United States foreign aid, military aid, and diplomatic initiative aimed at combating Colombian drug cartels and left-wing insurgent groups in Colombia. The plan was originally conceived in 1999 by the administrations of Col ...
in 2000. Colombia is the only country in the world that permits aerial-spraying of drug producing crops.Hugh O’Shaughnessy and Sue Branford, Chemical Warfare in Colombia: The Costs of Coca Fumigation (London: Latin America Bureau, 2005.) In many cases the spraying is carried out by American contractors, such as
DynCorp DynCorp (), formally DynCorp International, was an American private military contractor. Started as an aviation company, the company also provided flight operations support, training and mentoring, international development, intelligence training ...
. Colombia rejects threats and blackmail of the United States of America after the threat of
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to decertify the country as a partner in counter-narcotics efforts.


Environmental effects

The Colombian landscape is damaged through the constant
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
caused by clear cutting fields for coca cultivation and by
coca eradication Coca eradication is a strategy promoted by the United States government starting in 1961 as part of its "War on Drugs" to eliminate the cultivation of coca, a plant whose leaves are not only traditionally used by indigenous cultures but also, in m ...
. Soil erosion and the chemical pollution caused by aerial spraying of
glyphosate Glyphosate (IUPAC name: ''N''-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and crop desiccant. It is an organophosphorus compound, specifically a phosphonate, which acts by inhibiting the plant enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshik ...
herbicide have negative effects on Colombia's environment and people. Plots denuded of coca plants are abandoned and cause serious problems with erosion during seasonal rains. Because of the continuous high demand for coca, once a plot is destroyed, planters simply move further into the forest, clearing new lands for coca production. This vicious cycle of unsustainable cultivation-eradication has caused the environment in coca producing zones to suffer substantial decline. Aerial spraying has been repeatedly condemned by human rights and environmental activists, because of its effect on human populations and local soil and water systems. In December 2000, Dutch journalist
Marjon van Royen Marjon van Royen (born 24 October 1957 in The Hague) is a Dutch journalist and foreign correspondent for the NOS Journaal, the Dutch language public radio and television news channel. She started her career as a freelance journalist in Italy in th ...
found that "because the chemical is sprayed in Colombia from planes on inhabited areas, there have been consistent health complaints n humans Burning eyes, dizziness and respiratory problems being most frequently reported." In some areas, 80 percent of the children of the indigenous community fell sick with skin rashes, fever, diarrhoea and eye infections.Driven Mad by Itch
NRC Handelsblad, December 28, 2000
Because the glyphosate is sprayed from the air, there is a much higher chance of human error when spraying suspected illegal coca plantations. In many cases the wrong fields are sprayed, resulting in not only a total loss of the farmer's crop, but the loss of that field altogether as nothing will grow, where the herbicide has been sprayed. Though official documentation of the health effects of glyphosate spraying in Colombia are virtually non-existent, neighbouring Ecuador has conducted studies to determine the cause of mysterious illnesses amongst people living along the border of Colombia and has since demanded that no aerial sprayings occur within 10 km of the border because of the damages caused to people, animals and environment in that area.


References

*{{source attribution Agriculture in Colombia Cocaine Coca Illegal drug trade in Colombia