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BACKGROUND

The Afro Women’s Community Council of Patía California is an Afro-descendant community created in 2020 and organized under the figure of a Community Council, in compliance with the guidelines of Law 70 of 1993 of Colombia. It has a population of 80 people (72% are women) and is made up of 30 families.

This is the first community council formed exclusively by women, highlighting its matrifocal structure and its own governance model. Through collective decision-making, the community has strengthened its territorial autonomy and the preservation of its ancestral practices, with active female participation in the management of the territory.

In 2024, the Council obtained the collective title of 99.3 hectares through the National Land Agency (ANT), consolidating rights over an ancestral territory of 1,633.4 hectares historically occupied by the community. These lands, previously provided provisionally by the Colombian Institute for Rural Development (INCODER), are essential for the subsistence, social cohesion and cultural development of the Afro-descendant community.

With the support of the ANT, the Council has implemented productive projects such as cattle raising and lemon cultivation, thus strengthening its economic autonomy. In addition, it has led environmental conservation initiatives, such as the creation of Community Conservation Areas with a focus on Black People, covering 367.1 hectares. This effort, supported by the PCN and RRI, reaffirms the commitment to ecological sustainability and the improvement of living conditions.

Women, through consultation and collective participation mechanisms, have promoted inclusive decision-making and the strengthening of matrifocal leadership. They implement training strategies in territorial rights and promote mingas and other community activities, which reinforces their capacity for self-governance. In addition, collective work in home gardens, livestock, artisanal fishing and fruit harvesting ensures food security and economic sustainability for the community.

Faced with the challenges of marketing products such as lemons, the Council proposes productive alternatives, such as pulping and the implementation of an agro-silvopastoral system, seeking to diversify income and promote equitable and sustainable economic development.

TRAVEL AND LOGISTICS

June 12-14
Visitors will travel by plane from Bogotá to Popayán (1 hour 15 minutes flight). From there, they will travel by land to the territory of the Afro Women’s Community Council of Patía California; a land trip of approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. In the territory, a 40-minute walk will be carried out guided by the women, with a low level of effort. Participants will travel back to Bogotá on June 14, 2025 to attend the Pre-Forum on the 15th

The nights of 12 and 13 June, participants will stay at the San Martín hotel in the city of Popayán in shared rooms.

Food is local food provided by the organisations, based on rice, vegetables, tubers and meats (beef, pork, chicken, fish). There is a variety of local fruits and options for vegetarians or vegans.

On the night of 14 June, they will stay at the Tequendama Hotel in Bogotá.

June 15
Visitors will participate in the pre-forum: Land, memory and justice: an Afro-descendant legacy, to be held in Bogotá. More below.

YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT

  • Sustainable land management practices and strategies for community conservation.
  • Successful experiences of female leadership in natural resource management
  • Community productive projects, such as lemon cultivation and livestock farming.
  • Public policies that support collective land titling in Colombia.

WHAT TO BRING

The weather is warm, with average temperatures between 23°C and 30°C. It is recommended to bring cool clothing, preferably covering arms and neck, a cap or hat, comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen, insect repellent, and a reusable bottle. A light raincoat for possible rain.

PARTICIPANTS

  • will participate in activities guided by the Community Council to learn about conservation areas and productive projects.
  • will discuss with women leaders the challenges and achievements in defending the territory.
  • will visit cultural and productive spaces such as the California farm and community livestock areas.
  • will participate in the pre-forum ‘Land, memory and justice: an Afro-descendant legacy’ to dialogue with various relevant actors on the importance of the territorial rights of Afro-descendant communities, the advances in the process of collective titling, the challenges, challenges and opportunities for the protection and strengthening of their territories. It is expected to produce a joint statement to the Global Land Forum.

THE PRE-FORUM

LAND, MEMORY, AND JUSTICE: AN AFRODESCENDANT LEGACY

15 JUNE, 8:00 – 17:00H, HOTEL TEQUENDAMA, BOGOTÁ

WHY

Afro-descendant peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean represent nearly a quarter of the region’s population and live in at least 15 countries. Their presence in these territories is marked by a culture of ecosystem conservation, as evidenced by the fact that 80% of settlement territories are in a state of conservation. Additionally, 72% of demarcated territories and 83% of titled territories show a high degree of forest and tree vegetation preservation (RRI et al., 2024). However, many Afro-descendant territories are under threat from both legal and illegal activities involving natural resource exploitation, mining, deforestation, and the expansion of monocultures, among others.

In Colombia, the area collectively titled to Afro-descendant communities amounts to 5,789,283.4 hectares of land. Despite this vast area and its significant share of the country, these territories have experienced severe impacts due to the internal armed conflict.

This event will highlight the importance of territorial rights for Afro-descendant communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will serve to share progress on the collective land titling process and create a space for reflection on the challenges and opportunities for protecting and strengthening their territories, aiming to consolidate a joint declaration for the Global Land Forum.

WHO

The Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN) is leading the call for this Pre-Forum as a strategic political space to amplify the voices, proposals, and struggles of Black communities in relation to land, territory, and climate justice.

The initiative is spearheaded by PCN’s National Coordination, in close collaboration with the Palenques Regionales—territorial expressions of the process across the country. These include: Kurrulao (Nariño), Kongal (Buenaventura and parts of Valle), Alto Cauca (Cauca and southern Valle), Kusuto (Caribbean Coast), as well as working groups from Magdalena Medio, Bogotá and Central Colombia, and Medellín.

These regional palenques uphold PCN’s community, territorial, and organisational processes, and play an active role in convening, mobilising, providing political direction, and validating the Afro-descendant collective declaration.

ABOUT THE HOST

The Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN) brings together over 140 Afro-descendant entities in Colombia, working to transform political and social realities since 1993. It defends ancestral rights and participates in national and international commissions, including Law 70 of 1993 and the inclusion of the Ethnic Chapter in the Havana Peace Agreements. Its work is based on five programmatic axes: collective titling, historical memory, education, radio, and self-government instruments. It is guided by the principles of affirmation of being, space for being, exercise of being, a self-determined future, solidarity, and historical reparation.

The event has the technical and logistical support of the International Land Coalition (ILC), Tenure Facility, Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), CINEP, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana – OTEC, and the Agencia Nacional de Tierras (ANT), all contributing to documentation, systematization, and connecting this process to global agendas.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

A collective statement that reflects historical demands, organisational principles, and action proposals of Afro-descendant communities regarding territorial rights. This document will be presented in the plenary of the Global Land Forum.

A roadmap with concrete proposals for, land policies with an ethno-racial approach; recognition of untitled ancestral territories; environmental protection with a Black People’s perspective; collective restitution and historical reparation; and the inclusion of gender, generational, and sustainability perspectives in territorial governance.

The articulation of territorial, national, and international actors around a common agenda, by strengthening ties among leaders of PCN’s Regional Palenques, grassroots Afro organisations, universities, state institutions, international allies, and African and Latin American networks. This network-building is key to sustaining political action, community monitoring, and the global projection of the Afro-descendant movement.

The Pre-Forum and subsequent articulation process are expected to contribute to consolidating a public and verifiable commitment by the National Government to advance concrete measures for improving Afro-descendant communities’ access to land, aligned with the National Public Policy for Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples, and within the framework of implementing the Comprehensive Rural Reform outlined in the Peace Agreement.