This farmer wanted to quit the cocaine industry - he couldn't
"But when you have children and no work, what choice do you have? But today most of it is processed into cocaine. An estimated 70% of the global supply of the illegal drug comes from Colombia."Coca has some major advantages over other crops," says Lucas Marín Llanes, a Colombian researcher who focuses on the coca economy and substitution strategies.
- ▪"But when you have children and no work, what choice do you have?
- ▪But today most of it is processed into cocaine.
- ▪An estimated 70% of the global supply of the illegal drug comes from Colombia."Coca has some major advantages over other crops," says Lucas Marín Llanes, a Colombian researcher who focuses on the coca economy and substitution strategies.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
This farmer wanted to quit the cocaine industry - he couldn'tImage caption, Coca farmer Perea says he has not had the financial support required to stop growing the cropByCatherine EllisBusiness reporter, Reporting fromMeta, ColombiaPublished4 hours agoWhen Perea stopped growing coca - the raw material used to make cocaine - he vowed never to plant it again.He uprooted the green bushes on his small farm in a remote corner of the province of Meta in Colombia, reachable only by river, and replaced them with legal crops like cassava and plantain.Perea was one of thousands who joined a government-run crop substitution programme aimed at helping farmers abandon coca.But much of the promised assistance never arrived, and a lack of roads and recurring floods made it difficult to sell his…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at BBC News.
Discussion
0 commentsMore from BBC News
