Colombia: No Peace without a Piece of the Land

May 15, 2019 | Augusta Dwyer, Global Landscapes Forum
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After more than half a century of conflict, the Colombian government signed a peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas in 2016, taking a massive step toward ending a conflict that has claimed the lives of some 220,000 Colombians and displaced around 5 million. Through a comprehensive rural reform (CCR), the agreement crucially addresses the country’s highly skewed land ownership: two-thirds of land in Colombia is concentrated in just 0.4 percent of farmland holdings, while 84 percent of farms control a mere 4 percent. Under Law 902, the reform promises to provide 3 million hectares of land to landless or land-poor peasants and to formalize property title on another 7 million hectares.