EL TIEMPO, December 30, 2024
(Translated by Eunice Gibson, CSN Volunteer Translator)
In two and a half years, the agency has formally titled 1,200,000 hectares of land to campesinos and ethnic groups.
The implementation of Agricultural or Agrarian Reform in Colombia is on the right path, and the work in 2024 has had significant results according to reporting by the National Land Agency, (ANT in Spanish). This marks a “before” and “after” in the relationship between the government and the campesinos.
Along these lines, and thanks to support by the administration, the ANT, headed by its Director, Felipe Harman, highlighted the progress achieved by the agency. They describe it as a “new era with unprecedented results that are strengthening access to land, clearing up historic debts owed to the rural communities, and promoting rural justice in the countryside.”
This historic transformation, which has directly affected the development of Agrarian Reform in this country, has also been possible because of the priority given to the process by the administration, and because the ANT has received a budget allocation of 4.1 trillion pesos (roughly USD $944,000,000 at current exchange rates), so that between 2022 and 2024, their budget increased by 1,256%. According to the Agency’s review of the allocation, 91% of the funds have been spent.
That situation has allowed the Agency to enhance its capabilities by increasing its presence in the countryside, progressing from 8 to 92 offices throughout the country, while at the same time strengthening its technical team. The team expanded its number of agronomists from 9 to 60 (an increase of 566%), and it went from 1 to 20 Cadastral professionals (an increase of 1,900%) and they were able to survey 218,531 hectares, amounting to 1,200 parcels of land.
“As the Director, we have visited nearly 27 departments in this country, recognizing profoundly that in the midst of the amalgam of administrative, technical, and political challenges for Agrarian Reform, there is no better way to warm your heart than to find the resilience of the campesinos in the midst of the fear and the waves of violence in places like El Aro. We’ve seen the territories like the marshes and the extensive beaches of Sucre, like the beneficiaries of the Las Americas property in Chimichagua (Cesar Department), like in different parts of the country, like Meta and Caquetá, recognizing in these mountains, in these valleys, an immense and powerful country, which could be immensely great if it would respect the dignity of the rural communities in Colombia,” said Felipe Harman.
Agrarian Reform Milestones
As ANT has revealed, in just two and one-half years of the administration of President Gustavo Petro, the agency has acquired 448,544 hectares of land, of which 186,116 were acquired in 2024. This is seven times as many as were acquired in the Juan Manuel Santos and Iván Duque administrations put together.
And these properties have been furnished to campesino, Afro-Colombian, and indigenous communities, thus contributing to repair of the gulfs of historic inequality.
Along with that, the Agency emphasized that it had formally titled 1,277,049 hectares of properties, and that it had issued 752 titles destined for sports, education, transportation infrastructure, environmental protection, health, basic sanitation, national security, and community service settings.
They also reported that the Land Fund has acquired 144,000 hectares through agrarian proceedings: “in the Santos administration, nearly 242 proceedings resulted in the acquisition of 39,084 hectares, while in the Duque administration, there were 1,681 proceedings that produced 156,659 hectares; In the current administration, there have been 2,596 proceedings with a result of 570,897 hectares, according to sources in the National Land Agency.
They also indicated progress in constituting 13 new Campesino Reserve Zones, adding up to a total of 643,384 hectares; they are keys to guaranteeing environmental sustainability and to strengthening the rural economy. In the first place, they specify, these zones make up an integral part of this country’s agricultural policy.
Therefore, the ANT, together with the campesino communities,
has put together 13 departmental and 434 municipal Agrarian Reform Committees, duplicating the predicted number of committees.
With regard to the indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, the Agency points out that the Petro administration has acquired 95,271 hectares of land and has formally titled 965,255 hectares, guaranteeing their rights of possession.
Add to that the creation of 82 indigenous reservations, the expansion of 57 indigenous reservations, and formal titling for 63 Afro-Colombian communities, benefiting 193,845 people in 136 municipalities in the country.
“It’s an honor for us as the National Land Agency to come here to Sumapaz, to the land of Juan de la Cruz Varela, the land that used to accompany Jaime Garzón, and tell you what we’re doing for the campesinos of Colombia,” emphasized Harman.
Looking ahead to what is coming, the ANT projects new challenges for next year, including the expansion of properties being cleared and strengthening agricultural proceedings, with a goal of consolidating a just and sustainable distribution of the land.
“Agrarian Reform Is not only a commitment of this administration, it’s a reality that’s being translated into social justice for thousands of campesinos,” stressed spokesmen and women for the Agency.