[Connecting with the communities] A first approach to community market stakeholders in Colombia to jointly build water, sanitation and hygiene solutions

The Conecta Project is an innovative proposal for using the strength of the market to ensure that water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) solutions are better managed and reach increasing numbers of people in Colombia and Peru. It is promoted by SDC’s Global Water Programme and implemented by Sistema B International, Sistema B-Colombia and Sistema B-Peru.

© Sistema B Colombia / Conecta Project

The Conecta project’s mission is «to connect market forces for rural water and sanitation in Peru and Colombia», and in the first half of 2022 it held activities to understand and make a preliminary identification of beneficiary communities and productive organisations in both countries.

In Colombia, the project is operating in the municipality of Caloto, one of the municipalities most affected by the armed conflict, by a lack of institutions and by illegal economies. Through Colombian government action, local people now have better technical capacities and have been able to develop legal agricultural and commercial activities and are keen to continue in the same direction.

The project made a first outreach visit to the Caloto municipality, in Colombia’s Cauca department from 7 to 10 April 2022. The delegation was composed of officials from the Caloto mayor’s office, Swissaid specialists, three representatives from the Portafolio Verde, Núcleo Ambiental and Indeleble Social companies (B companies) and the project’s technical team. They pre-identified producer organisations and entrepreneurial organisations which could be supported in commercialisation, or which are willing and able to work with Payments for Environmental Services or medicinal marijuana production, as these are considered to be two appropriate sources of income for these communities due to their wealth of natural resources.

On the first day, the project held a meeting attended by approximately 12 producer organisations and 38 participants. The project and the technical contribution that the accompanying B companies could provide in this phase were presented.

This was a good opportunity for the community representatives to ask questions, have any doubts clarified and comment on the main products, the type of WASH solution they benefit from and the constraints they face for having better sales.

The delegation visited the indigenous community of Toez, which has a water and waste treatment plant. The community mainly markets ancestral medicine products and handicrafts. It meets the necessary criteria to move forward and will be considered in the in-depth diagnostic, the next phase of the project.

At the end of the exploratory visits conducted to getting to know the communities and the realities of each of them, the project team will carry out an in-depth diagnosis with 10 producer organisations. Two organisations will be selected to work with to improve their marketing skills and the maintenance and sustainability of the water, sanitation and hygiene solutions currently operating in their community.

Source: Sistema B Colombia

Useful links:
FS Conecta Project (spanish)
Conecta Project web page
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Related article:
[Meet and connect with the communities] Building water, sanitation and hygiene solutions with communities in Peru  (read)

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