Colombia: National government launches $14.6 billion program to support small potato producers and stem falling prices
The national government launched a $14.6 billion program to purchase surplus potatoes, support small producers, and strengthen food security.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development launched the "Support Program for the Management of Seasonal Surpluses for Small Producers," a strategy that seeks to mitigate the effects of the potato oversupply and the falling prices currently affecting the sector.
With an investment of 14.6 billion pesos, the program seeks to guarantee fair incomes for farming families and prevent crop losses, while strengthening national food security through collaborative efforts between the State, producer associations, and local authorities.
The initiative contemplates the direct purchase of approximately 8,000 tons of potatoes from small producers. Currently, purchases are being made in Cundinamarca and Boyacá, and will soon be extended to Antioquia, Cauca, Nariño, Santander, and Norte de Santander.
The project, led by the Ministry of Agriculture, articulates the efforts of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), the Ministry of Equality and Equity, the Department of Social Prosperity (DPS), the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), and the Ministry of Defense, with the goal of distributing the tuber to families in socioeconomically vulnerable conditions, especially in areas affected by climate variability in the Colombian Caribbean.
In this first phase, 8,000 families have received the food, and it is expected to reach 600,000 households, each of whom will receive one arroba of potatoes.
According to the Ministry, the program is being activated at a key moment for the sector, as a result of the commitments made at the national paper roundtable. So far in 2025, overproduction has been recorded due to favorable weather conditions and an increase in planted areas, which has led to a drop in prices of up to 68% and estimated losses of 14.5 million pesos per hectare.
With this initiative, the national government seeks to protect the work of small farmers, strengthen the rural economy, and move toward a more equitable and sustainable agri-food model.
Fuente: Traducido por Argenpapa de :radionacional.co
