Chapter 1: Peace Can Be Built from the Territories: Experiences of Networking in South-Western Colombia

Colombia lived through an armed conflict with the FARC¹ guerrilla for more than half a century. After several years of negotiations, the Peace Agreement was finally signed in November 2016, with the main objective of putting an end to the conflict and guaranteeing its non-repetition. A crucial point to achieve this purpose is to achieve the transformation of living conditions in rural territories, taking into account that poverty in these areas is much higher than in urban areas, which is one of the reasons why the conflict has lasted for so long. For this reason, Point 1 of this Agreement, the Integral Rural Reform (RRI), includes actions to close urban–rural gaps, seeking greater equity and opportunities for rural inhabitants and territories. One of the main mechanisms for implementing the RRI is the Territorially Focused Development Programmes (PDET), which were targeted at 170 municipalities divided into 16 sub-regions (Fig. 1.1). Although the process of structural transformation of the countryside should cover all of the country’s rural areas, these municipalities were prioritised taking into account poverty levels, the level of armed conflict, institutional weaknesses and the presence of illicit crops and other illegal economies (Point 1.2.2 of the Agreement).