What we do
On Colombia’s Caribbean coast, communities face violence, displacement, and weak political leadership. In the Montes de María region, Sembrandopaz supports grassroots solutions through education, political participation, and community organizing. Its work spans conflict transformation, peacebuilding, human security, agroecology, tourism, food security, trauma healing, and resilience.
Communities seek basic services, healthcare, education, housing, and sustainable livelihoods. Sembrandopaz helps them strengthen leadership, engage in nonviolent collective action, and claim their rights through legal training, capacity building, and dialogue.
Challenging the dominant model of monocultures and extractive industries, Sembrandopaz promotes agroecological alternatives that protect the endangered Tropical Dry Forest while sustaining traditional farmers. This includes microloans, farmer exchanges, entrepreneurial initiatives, and conservation projects at its Experimental Farm and Nature Reserve.
“Here we are, with our hand on the plough, looking forward and with our hearts full of hope, underneath the shade of the tree that hasn’t sprouted yet, but we have enough faith that we can taste in our mouths the smooth flavor of the fruit that it will bear, and we can glimpse traces of the dreams of Montes de María.”
– Ricardo Esquivia, Founder and Director, Sembrandopaz