Rutas hacia un Crecimiento Económico Sostenible en la Amazonía Colombiana

Abstract

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Growth Lab at Harvard University joined forces in a research initiative to assess, diagnose and propose policy alternatives to generate sustainable economic development in three departments of the Colombian Amazon - Caquetá, Guaviare and Putumayo. Fedesarrollo was selected as the local liaison and research partner in Colombia to provide local knowledge, policy-relevant contacts and local technical expertise in the effort to design a research-based sustainable policy agenda.

The research conducted by Harvard Growth Lab (HGL) included the development of an economic complexity analysis, a growth diagnostic, and a policy recommendations document to guide sustainable economic development in the three study departments. In its role as a local research center, Fedesarrollo maintained an open communication channel with HGL to access data and information; provided technical assistance on the use of some databases and the understanding of the legal environment and some relevant public policies and laws. Likewise, upon receiving the progress presented by HGL on each of its investigations, it reviewed and sent comments. Fedesarrollo also conducted two complementary analyses: a literature review of economic development studies in the Colombian Amazon, and an inventory of policies, plans and programs on sustainable economic development in the Colombian Amazon.

In addition, Fedesarrollo supported the formation of the steering committee and the organization of the feedback sessions. This committee was composed of representatives of public entities at the national level - National Planning Department (DNP), Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, and its Vision Amazonia program - and at the territorial level - Governorate of Caqueta, Guaviare and Putumayo, the Administrative and Planning Region (RAP), the Corporation for the Sustainable Development of Southern Amazonia (Corpoamazonia), and the Corporation for the Sustainable Development of Northern and Eastern Amazonia (CDA); There was also participation from academia (Amazon Scientific Research Institute (SINCHI)), civil society (Amazon Conservation Team, Fundación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible, Natural Resource Governance Institute, and The Nature Conservancy), and the private sector (Amazon Emprende - Escuela Bosque). In the Growth Lab committee sessions, they presented the progress of their research and the committee members gave them feedback.

Fedesarrollo developed three studies of its own: The first "Public policy implications for the development of sustainable agro-initiatives in Caquetá, Guaviare and Putumayo: success factors and bottlenecks from the vision of the entrepreneur" applies a qualitative approach, based on the experiences lived by 24 agro-entrepreneurs to identify the main success factors and bottlenecks and propose policy recommendations related to the promotion of this type of initiatives.

The second "Socioeconomic characterization of Caquetá, Guaviare and Putumayo: A labor market approach" seeks to analyze the dynamics registered in Caquetá, Guaviare and Putumayo in light of variables such as the unemployment rate, informality, human capital, physical and digital infrastructure, and quality of life variables since, due to their particularities, a more detailed analysis of the specificities of these territories and their population allows broadening the understanding of the Amazon region and contributing to the knowledge necessary for the formulation of productive and sustainable development programs in the region.

The third study "The recognition of the value of natural capital in the Colombian Amazon through conservation financing" explores how the financial mechanisms and flows that have been established in recent years constitute a recognition of the value of natural capital through conservation financing and which fundamental elements must be reinforced to obtain successful results as an alternative to the environmental economic valuation of natural capital, which still requires research to obtain more solid values for decision making.