Escaping capitalist market imperatives: commercial coca cultivation in the Colombian Amazon

Figures & data

Table

Interview Code	Interview Date	Location of Interview (Municipality)	Number of Interviewees	Gender of Interviewee(s)	Profile of Interviewee(s)	Interviewee's home municipality	Interviewee's home sub-district (code)	Pseudoynm(s) used in article
PUT-PA-2015-06-13-a	June 13 2015	Puerto Asís	2	M/F	Both are community leaders	Puerto Asís	16
PUT-PA-2015-06-13-b	June 13 2015	Puerto Asís	1	F	Community and regional social leader	Puerto Asís	16
PUT-PA-2015-06-14-a	June 14 2015	Puerto Asís	1	M	Young community leader	Puerto Asís	20
PUT-PA-2015-06-16-a	June 16 2015	Puerto Asís	10+	Mixed	Residents of two different rural subdistricts within the Amazon Pearl	Puerto Asís	18; 19
PUT-PA-2015-06-17-a	June 17 2015	Puerto Asís	1	M	Campesino, community leader	Puerto Asís	21
PUT-ND-2015-06-18-a	June 18 2015	Puerto Asís	1	F	Regional indigenous leader	ND	ND
PUT-VG-2015-06-20-a	June 20 2015	Orito	3	M/M/M	Three indigenous leaders from different cabildos but of the same resguardo.	Villagarzón	NA
PUT-PA-2015-06-20-a	June 20 2015	Orito	3	F/M/M	Three indigenous leaders from various cabildos in the same area.	Puerto Asís	22; 23
NAR-IP-2015-06-20-a	June 20 2015	Orito	2	F/M	Two indigenous leaders from the same area.	Ipiales	NA
PUT-VG-2015-06-20-b	June 20 2015	Orito	1	M	Campesino, environmental activist, leader of an environmental association.	Villagarzón	NA
PUT-OR-2015-06-20-a	June 20 2015	Orito	4	M/M/M/M	All are residents of the same indigenous cabildo, two are teachers.	Orito	NA
PUT-PC-2015-06-20-a	June 20 2015	Orito	1	M	An indigenous leader from Puerto Caicedo.	Puerto Caicedo	NA
PUT-PC-2015-06-20-b	June 20 2015	Orito	3	M/M/M	All indigenous leaders from three different cabildos within the same area.	Puerto Caicedo	NA

Table

Nacional Interview Number (represented as “E” then number)	Other Interview Code	Interviewers present (Initials)	Interview Date	Location of Interview (Municipality)	Number of Interviewees	Gender of Interviewee(s)	Profile of Interviewee(s)	Interviewee's municipality of residence	Interviewee's sub-district (code) of residence	Pseudoynm(s) used in article
102	Same person as 16	CA; MP; FT	March 30 2019	Puerto Asís	1	F	Farmer, regional social leader, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	16
103		C7A; MP; FT	March 31 2019	Puerto Asís	4	M/M/M/F	3 JAC presidents and ex-coca producers and 1 urban social leader and teacher in many sub-districts	Puerto Asís	2; 3; 6
152		FT; MP; HR	June 29 2019	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, Ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	24
153		FT; HR; GP	July 1 2019	Puerto Asís	1	F	JAC president, community leader	Puerto Asís	9
195		CA; FT	September 27 2019	Puerto Asís	-	-	Notes from a meeting of peasant leaders from different municipalities discussing the problems of the subsitution program	NA	NA
196	I1 (same person as LQ2 or 252)	FT; CA	September 26 2019	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC vice-president, coca producer	Puerto Asís	2	Carlos
251	LQ3	FT; CA	February 8 2020	Puerto Asís	2	F/M	Farmers (couple), ex-coca producers	Puerto Asís	2	Amalia and Santiago
252	LQ2 (same person as I1 or 196)	FT; CA	February 7 2020	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC vice-president, coca producer	Puerto Asís	2	Carlos
253	LQ1 (same person as I20)	FT; CA	February 6 2020	Puerto Asís	1	F	Farmer, social org leader, JAC president, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	1	Maria
255	LQ4	CA; FT; GP	February 8 2020	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	3	Don Pablo
258	LQ6	CA; FT; HR	March 7 2020	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, Afro community leader, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	5	Fermin
259	LQ5	CA; FT; HR	March 5 2020	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, coca producer	Puerto Asís	4	César
260	LQ7	FT; CA	March 8 2020	Puerto Asís	1	F	JAC president, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	6
265	LQ10	CA; FT; HR	March 10 2020	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farm administrator, ex-coca picker	Puerto Asís	1
266	LQ13	CA; FT	March 12 2020	Puerto Asís	1	M	Elderly farmer, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	2	Edgar
267	LQ12	CA; FT; HR	March 12 2020	Puerto Asís	2	F/M	Elderly farmers (couple), ex-coca producers	Puerto Asís	2	Aldemar and Rosa
268	LQ14	CA; FT; HR	March 12 2020	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, coca producer	Puerto Asís	2	Darío
269	LQ15	CA; FT	March 13 2020	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, coca producer	Puerto Asís	2	Andrés
274	I12	FT	September 24 2019	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, ex-coca producer, ex-coca leaf trader, social leader	Puerto Asís	17	Hasan
276	I10	FT	June 28 2019	Puerto Asís	1	F	Farmer, JAC president, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	8	Doña Emma
277	I16	FT; JAG	September 15 2019	Valle del Guamuez	4	F/M/M/M	Farmers, inhabitants of the same rural district, all involved in social orgs, one is a regional leader, ex-coca producers	Valle del Guamuez	ND	Fernando
	I20 (same person as LQ1 or 253)	CA; FT	February 6 2020; March 10 2020	Puerto Asís	1	F	Farmer, social org leader, JAC president, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	1	Maria
	I3	FT; GP	July 1 2019	Puerto Asís	1	M	Retired farmer	Puerto Asís	9
	I4	FT; HR; GP	July 1 2019	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC vice-president, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	13
	I5	FT; JAG	September 11 2019	Puerto Asís	1	M	Carpenter, coca picker, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	7
	I6	FT; JAG	September 11 2019	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	7
	I7	FT; JAG	September 11 2019	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC secretary, coca producer	Puerto Asís	7	Ramiro
	I8	FT; JAG	September 12 2019	Puerto Asís	3	F/F/M	All coca-pickers and inhabitants of the same rural subdistrict	Puerto Asís	10
	I9	FT; JAG	September 12 2019	Puerto Asís	2	M/M	Both farmers, JAC members and ex-coca producers – inhabitants of the same rural subdistrict	Puerto Asís	11
	I11	FT; HR; GP	July 2 2019	Puerto Asís	2	F/M	Farmers (neighbours), one is a long-time social org leader, the other an ex-coca producer	Puerto Asís	12	Ángela and Antonio
209		HR	September 2019	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer	Puerto Asís	ND
214		HR	March 3 2020	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, ex-coca producer;	Puerto Asís	ND
21		CA	August 5 2018	Puerto Asís	2	M; F	Both farmers, JAC members and ex-coca producers	Puerto Asís	27
FQ-EF-CUL 1		CA; LO	June 2021	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC member; coca producer	Puerto Asís	2
FQ-EF-CUL2		CA; LO	June 2021	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, coca producer	Puerto Asís	2
FQ-EF-CUL3.2		CA; LO	June 2021	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC member; coca producer	Puerto Asís	2
FQ-EF-CUL4		CA; LO	June 2021	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC member; coca producer	Puerto Asís	2
FQ-EF-Pro-1	Same person as FQ-EF-CUL 1	CA; LO	August 2021	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC member; coca producer	Puerto Asís	2
FQ-EF-Pro-2	Same person as FQ-EF-CUL 2	CA; LO	August 2021	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, coca producer	Puerto Asís	2
FQ-EF-Pro-3	Same person as FQ-EF-CUL 3.2	CA; LO	August 2021	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC member; coca producer	Puerto Asís	2
FQ-EF-Pro-4	Same person as FQ-EF-CUL 4	CA; LO	August 2021	Puerto Asís	1	M	Farmer, JAC member; coca producer	Puerto Asís	2

FT - Frances Thomson; CA- Camilo Acero; JAG – José Antonio Gutiérrez; LO - Linda Ordoñez

MP - Mónica Parada; DM- Diana Machuca; HR- Howard Rojas; GP- Gustavo Posso

Table

	Colombia - national averages over time	Regional averages over time –Putumayo & Caquetá (UNODC reports typically mix data for these two departments)	Puerto Asís, Putumayo (Data from the 2019 Observatorio PNIS Survey)
Coca plot size data	2.04 ha in 2000 1.1 ha in 2005 0.58 ha in 2010 0.96 ha in 2017 (UNODC & Acción Social, 2011, 19; UNODC & Minjusticia, 2011, 41; UNODC & GOC, 2018, 23)	2.59 ha in 2000 0.57 ha in 2005 0.36 ha in 2010 0.85 ha in 2017 (UNODC & Acción Social, 2011, 19; UNODC & GOC, 2020, 96) ALTERNATIVE DATA: 0.7 ha in 2005 0.8 in 2012 1.3 in 2017 (UNODC & GOC, 2018, 74)	Average: 1.14 ha Median: 1 ha Min: 0-0.2 ha Max: 10 ha (Question 116) Less than 1 ha: 45 1 to 3 ha: 57 3 to 5 ha: 3 5 to 10 ha: 2 Total: 107 respondents (Question 102)
Coca growers’ farm sizes – per cent of farms within certain range, measured in hectares	1-3 ha: 22% 3-5 ha: 14% 5-10 ha: 32% 10-50 ha: 26% Above 50 ha: 6% - data from four regions (UNODC & Acción Social, 2011, 61)	1-5 ha: 16% 5-10 ha: 37% 10-50 ha: 36% Above 50 ha: 11% (UNODC & Acción Social, 2011, 61)	1 ha or less: 19 1.1-3 ha: 17 3.1-5 ha: 18 5.1-10 ha: 20 10.1-50 ha: 30 50.1-100 ha: 3 Above 100 ha: 0 Total: 107 respondents (Question 113) 1-5 ha: 50% 5-10 ha: 18% 10-50 ha: 28% Above 50 ha: 0.2% Note that 29 of 107 respondents said they have one additional plot of land and 1 said she/he had 3 further plots. (Question 108)
Coca growers’ relationship to their land	“Occupied with title” - 40% “Occupied without title” - 51% “Collective property” - 7% “Rented” and “Other” – 2% - data from four regions, drawn from a graph (UNODC & Acción Social, 2011, 59) ALTERNATIVE DATA: “Owned with title” – 13% “Occupied without title” - 66% “Rented” – 17% “Sharecropped” – 1% “Other” – 3% (UNODC & Minjusticia, 2011, 13)	NO DATA	“Poseedor” or possessor: 0 “Propietario” or owner: 88 “Arrendatario” or renter: 9 “Terreno familiar” or family plot: 5 “Terreno prestado” or borrowed: 3 “Parecelero”: 2 Total: 107 respondents (Question 103) YES- Name appears on ‘certificate of freedom and tradition’, indication of legal title: 45 NO- Name does not appear on ‘certificate of freedom and tradition’, indication of informal ownership: 43 Not applicable (not landowner): 19 Total: 107 respondents (Question 106) Owned with & without title- 82% Owned with title – 42% Owned without title – 40% Rented – 8% Family plot – 5% Borrowed plot – 3% Other – 2%
Information about sources: - UNODC & Acción Social, 2011 - compares coca-producing and non-coca producing households in coca-growing areas. The report presents data from geospatial analysis, surveys and workshops conducted in 2010, as well as data from the government/UNODC’s annual censuses conducted since the year 2000. The 2010 surveys covered four regions: the Pacific, Meta-Guaviare, Orinoquía; Putumayo-Caquetá. In the latter region, the survey included 324 “production units” with and without coca. - Other UNODC/government data is taken from their annual census reports, which include information from their productivity study that began in 2005. As of 2021, four phases of this study had been completed. Varying numbers of surveys and ‘harvest tests’ were applied in each region, in each study phase, comprising a range of years. In the case of Putumayo-Caquetá, 240 surveys were conducted in 2005, 210 in 2008 (though these were limited), 240 in 2012 and 300 in 2017. - UNODC & Minjusticia, 2011 – presents information from phases I (2005) and II (2006-2010) of the productivity study referred to above. The researchers used probability sampling; 1,389 coca producing “units” from across Colombia were covered in the first phase and 1,146 in the second (pp. 4-5). - Data for Puerto Asís comes from a survey applied in 2019 by Metis on behalf of the National University of Colombia Drugs & (dis)order research team, under the direction of Professor Francisco Gutiérrez and with the input and support of the illicit crop growers’ organisation COCCAM. The survey was applied to a sample of coca growers, pickers and a smaller number of non-coca growers (412 participants total) in Puerto Asís (n = 206) and Tumaco (n = 206) who signed up to the illicit crop substitution program – PNIS, which was born of the 2016 peace agreement. For more information see: Marín Jaramillo, M., Machuca Pérez, D. & Acero Vargas, C. (2020) “El PNIS en Terreno: Voces del Campesinado Cocalero”. The questionnaire and full survey results (in Excel form) are available on the Land Observatory webpage (https://www.observatoriodetierras.org/otros-documentos/).

Table

Sources	María	Carlos	Amalia & Santiago	César	Andrés	UNODC/GOC data^i
Initial Phase – first two years
Est. cost of planting 1 ha ^ii	$3.2 million	$3.5 - 5 million	$4.5 million	$2.4 million	ND (But it costs circa $6 million to buy 1 ha of coca already established)	$3.5 - 4 million *Data from 2011 publication
Time to first harvest ^iii	12 months	14 months	8-9 months	8 months	ND	8-9 months *Data from 2011 publication
First harvest yields per ha	ND	50 arrobas	15 arrobas	70 arrobas	ND	30-40 arrobas *Data from 2011 publication
First harvest production of paste in kg/gm	ND	1 kilo	450 grams	1.25 kilos	ND	ND
Est. time to recover initial investment	3 harvests; 24 months	24 months	4-5 harvests	ND	ND	18-24 months *Data from 2011 publication
Full production phase – after first 2 years
Time between each harvest	3 months	2.5-3 months	2 months	2 months	2 months	3 months^iv
Yields per ha per harvest – arrobas (12.5 kilos) of leaves	300 arrobas	250-300 arrobas	100 arrobas	300-450 arrobas	200 arrobas	125 arrobas^v
Number of arrobas for 1 kilo of paste	ND	25-40^vi	33.3 ^vii	25-56^viii	ND	37.4^ix
Kilos of paste per harvest	ND	6 - 7.5 kilos	3 kilos^x	8 kilos^xi	ND	3.3 kilos^xii
Est. paste price per kilo	ND	$2.5 million $2.8 - 3 for ‘oxidada’	ND	$2.4 million $3.3 for ‘oxidada’	ND	$1,660,000^xiii
Est. revenue before costs	$16 million	$23 million	$7.2 million^xiv	$24,000,000	$12,000,000	$5,478,000^xv
Est. costs^xvi (maintenance, harvest, processing)	$9.5 million	$9-10.5 million	$3.3 million	$8 million	$4 million	$4,120,380^xvii
Est. net income from 1 ha of coca	$6.5 million every 3 months	$10-12.5 million every 2.5 months	$3.9 million every 2 months^xviii	$16 million every 2 months	$8 million every two months	$1,357,620 every 3 months^xix
Return to household labour and assets^xx	.40	0.54	0.54	0.66	0.66	0.247
Sources	LQ1	LQ2/I1	LQ3	LQ5	LQ15	UNODC/GOC

ⁱ For this UNODC column, I used the most up-to date data available (from 2018-2020) and national averages where possible. Information for the top four rows, on the initial phase, are from the 2011 UNODC & Acción Social study (p. 73) because I could not find more up-to date information for these cells.

ⁱⁱ Calculations vary significantly in part because people omitted certain costs. For example, the only calculation that includes the cost of land clearance ($600,000 for 1 ha) is the one given by Carlos (at $5 million per ha) in a first interview. Only Amalia mentioned the cost of feeding hired labour. And César did not include the cost of chemicals. Another source of divergence is the cost of hired labour for land preparation, planting, and initial fumigation/fertilization. Some, like Santiago and Amalia, simply told us the cost of the labour ($2 million including food); others calculated the number of jornales needed – 12 (Carlos), 20 (César) or 30 (María) – and multiplied that by a day rate of between $30,000 and $40,000. The price of seeds people reported also varied significantly, between $10,000 per arroba and $40,000 per arroba, or between $500,000 and $1.6 million total. Most people said you need 50 arrobas of seeds per hectare, only César diverged from this, stating he used 40 arrobas.

ⁱⁱⁱ This depends on the variety of coca, and soil quality and/or the amount of fertilizer used.

^iv The national average is 4 harvests per year (UNODC & GOC, 2021, 49).

^v I calculated this number using the national average of 6.4 tonnes of leaves per year per ha and 4.1 harvests annually (ibid, 2021, 11, 49). Few reports offer disaggregated data, showing yields per ha per harvest, instead of per year. Data from the late 2000s shows a national average of 1,000 kilos per harvest (according to harvest tests) or 900 kilos per harvest (according to coca growers’ own reporting), which works out at 80 and 72 arrobas per harvest per ha respectively. Figures for the Putumayo-Caquetá region are the same as the national average. Yields were lower in this period than they were in 2005 (UNODC & Minjusticia, 2011, 43).

^vi Carlos explained that with the Blanca Lisa variety one can get a kilo of base with between 25 and 30 arrobas of leaves, while with other varieties you need 35-40 arrobas for a kilo. Later he explained that 1 arroba gives you 25 grams.

^vii I calculated this number based on their report of extracting 450 grams from 15 arrobas.

^viii César says there is a variety they are calling ‘Juana’ or ‘Sacapobres’, which roughly translates as ‘uplifts the poor’, that gives 40 grams of oxidated merchandise per arroba, which works out at around 25 arrobas for 1 kilo. Nevertheless, at other moments he suggested getting 8 kilos from 400 arrobas, 6 kilos from 300 arrobas, and 1.25 kilos from 70 arrobas.

^ix I calculated this number using the national average of 2.14 kg of paste per metric tonne of leaves (UNODC & GOC, 2021, 52-54).

^x I calculated this number based on their reporting getting 100 arrobas at each harvest and 450 grams of paste from 15 arrobas.

^xi This is the number of kilos per harvest he himself reported, assuming he got 400 arrobas.

^xii Calculated by dividing 125 (arrobas) by 37.4 (number of arrobas required for a kilo of paste). Elsewhere, UNODC/GOC researchers estimate that 1 ha of coca will give 10.7 kilos of cocaine paste per year (2019, 81), which works out at just 2.65 kilos per harvest, assuming there are 4 per year.

^xiii $1.66 million pesos per kilogram was the national average in 2018 (UNODC & GOC, 2019, 12). More recent UNODC censes do not include national average nor Putumayo prices. It is worth noting that there is significant regional and temporal variation. For example, in the three years before the pandemic, prices in the South of Bolívar are said to have fluctuated between $1.6-$2.1 million per kilo, while prices in Catatumbo are said to have remained relatively stable at around $2.4 million during this same period (UNODC & GOC, 2021, 16-17). In the Argelia-El Tambo (Cauca) subregion, prices oscillated between $3 and $3.5 million per kilo in 2019, whereas in the rest of the Pacific region they ranged from $2 to $2.2 million per kilo that year (UNODC & GOC, 2020, 78).

^xiv I calculated this number, assuming they get 3 kilos at each harvest (as above) and are paid $2.4 million per kilo - a lower price, as reported by our informants.

^xv Calculated by multiplying 3.3 (kilos per ha at each harvest) by $1,660,000 (the average price per kilo).

^xvi Only a few interviewees disaggregated the costs. Amalia and Santiago estimated spending $1 million between each harvest on chemical inputs, nothing on hired labour for maintenance (they do this work themselves), $800,000 on harvest labour (100 arrobas at $8,000 per arroba), $400,000-$500,000 on food for 4-5 raspachines over 2 days and $1 million on gasoline for processing (they did not mention the cost of other processing chemicals). María mentioned that chemical inputs for crop maintenance could cost anywhere between $1.5-2 million between each harvest. César spends around $3.2 million for harvest labour costs alone (400 arrobas at $8000 per arroba), excluding food expenses. He estimates spending another $2.25 million just on gasoline for processing.

^xvii UNODC/GOC researchers estimate that it cost $1,248,600 COP to produce 1 kg of paste in 2018, including chemical inputs, services and hired labour (2019, 81). Unfortunately, they do not provide an estimate of costs between and at each harvest. An imperfect solution was to multiply this figure by 3.3, which is the estimated number of kilos produced per harvest, as above.

^xviii I calculated this figure assuming they get $7.2 million in revenue, as explained above.

^xix This works out at circa $452,540 per month. I calculated this figure using the other UNODC data shown in the column. It is very similar to that provided by UNODC/GOC researchers directly: they estimate that coca growers who processed their own leaves into paste earned, on average, $399,300 per month in 2018.

^xx This is total revenue minus total costs (or net income) divided by total revenue. My calculations here do not include initial investment costs (which are recovered 18-24 months after planting), nor have I subtracted the costs of ‘unpaid labour’ – that of the grower and, in some cases, that of her/his family.