Establecimiento de sistemas silvopastoriles en el sur del Atlántico, una estrategia para afrontar el cambio climático y contribuir a la seguridad alimentaria

Silvopastoral systems (SPSs) in the south of the department of Atlántico (Colombia) emerged as a strategy for productive reconstruction and adaptation to climate change in response to the floods caused by the winter wave between 2010 and 2011, which affected an agricultural area of more than 35,000 hectares in the six municipalities of this region. Between 2012 and 2013, SPSs were established on 2,683 hectares on 778 smallholder farms. The monitoring conducted in the last seven years (2017-2023), using AGROSAVIA’s Social Balance methodology, indicated that at least 10% of the area of the initially established SPSs is maintained and that some farms expanded the areas. With these SPSs, producers achieved a significant increase in milk production (more than five times the production obtained in the traditional extensive livestock system, which is the alternative production system that prevails in the region), thus obtaining an additional economic benefit estimated at 4 million pesos (2023 COP constant) per hectare/year, on average during the period. According to the perception of the producers who have SPS and the observation made on their farms during field visits and interviews, significant environmental impacts were identified—such as improvement in soil conservation and quality and reduction in the use of chemical synthesis inputs—and social impacts—such as income generation and greater availability, quality, and safety of food (milk and meat)—which would indicate a contribution of this strategy to climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as to the food security of producers in the south of the department of Atlántico. It is imperative to learn from this experience to improve and deepen processes to get closer to a transformation toward sustainable livestock farming in Colombia.