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Environmental and Human Health Assessment of the Aerial Spray Program for Coca and Poppy Control in Colombia

In April 2005, a scientific team engaged by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the Organization of American States (OAS) presented the results of their assessment of the impact of the aerial spray program of coca and poppy with Glyphosate in Colombia on human health and the environment. The project emerged from a request from the government of Colombia to CICAD to conduct an independent evaluation on the effects of this eradication program.

The Scientific Evaluation Team, consisting of experts from Canada, Mexico, Spain, Brazil and the United Kingdom, analyzed the impact of aerial spraying on people, fauna, flora, and the environment in general, and also studied the environmental impact of fungicides and herbicides used in the production and processing of illicit crops. The international team was charged with the formulation, supervision, and execution of the study, working with a permanent technical group of mobile monitoring, responsible for gathering samples in places exposed to the use of Glyphosate.

Mixing area for Glyphosate and adjuvants.

The objective of the evaluation was to provide a scientific study focused on environment and human health, to compile data for use in the evaluation, respond to specific inquiries that have been made, and publish the results to the public at large and to the scientific community. The team was subject, as happens in all risk evaluations, to the frame of reference established in different jurisdictions, which consists of the statement of the problem, the evaluation of the effects, and the characterization of the risk to humans and the environment.

The team recognized that the cultivation and production of illicit drugs in Colombia has serious political, social, economic, and environmental implications. Nevertheless, the study focused exclusively on the scientific significance of the impact on human and environmental health of coca and poppy eradication through aerial spraying with herbicides.

Several recommendations were made. The major recommendations were:

That the current application practices for eradication spraying be retained but that additional data be gathered over a longer time period to better characterize the possible impacts of coca and poppy production in the Andean Biodiversity Hotspot.
That data be gathered to determine the number of fields that are located close to shallow surface waters.
That other formulants be tested for the purposes of selecting products that present a lower risk to aquatic organisms.
Although no association was observed between eradication spraying and reproductive outcomes in humans, additional studies to identify possible risk factors associated with other activities should be considered.

Executive Summary of the Report (WORD and PDF)

Complete Report of the study (PDF)

ACCESO PROGRAM

On June 2, in Lima, Peru, the ACCESO Program (Andean Countries Cocoa Export Support Opportunity) was launched by the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) in association with the governments of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States (CICAD/OAS), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Department of State.

The ACCESO program is a partnership between private industry, countries and international development organizations aimed at promoting sustainable cacao production within the framework of national development policies. The Agriculture Ministers signed a Declaration of Intent that will institutionalize this program and will generate the conditions needed for sustainable cacao production.

The principal objective of ACCESO is to encourage and promote sustainable rural development in cacao-producing areas by fostering the necessary conditions and supporting all components of the production chain. This includes the promotion of activities such as introduction of new high-yield disease-resistant varieties, improved production technologies, integrated pest management, infrastructure, marketing support and strengthening farmers’ associations and cooperatives.

The goals of the program are to increase farmer yield, generate higher income for farm families that produce quality cacao and other tree crops. This program will provide the countries access to information, resources, and will leverage best practices and disseminate them among the partners through horizontal cooperation. It will focus both at the national and regional level, according to the specific characteristics of the countries and the market. Further, it will provide a package of demand-driven services to improve current and future national cacao initiatives.

John Lunde (Representative of the Chocolate Industry), James Mack (CICAD Executive Secretary), Nils Ericsson (Executive President of DEVIDA), Pablo Rizzo (Minister of Agriculture of Ecuador), Julio Escudero (Vice-Minister of Agriculture of Peru), Eloy Avila (Ambassador of Bolivia in Peru)

ACCESO will be implemented through a Coordinating Secretariat hosted by IICA in Peru. The first stage of ACCESO is envisioned to last 3 years with the hopes that the program will be extended based on the availability of resources.

The first activity of ACCESO will be to hold national strategic planning workshops that will serve as the basis to design country-specific programs that will serve as a basis for a regional action plan.

For more information, please visit this link

ANDEAN STRATEGY FOR ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Recognizing the important role that alternative development plays in the fight against drugs in the Andes, the countries of the region created the Andean Sub-Regional Group on Alternative Development that met for the first time on July 20 and 21 in Lima, Peru. During this meeting, the creation of an Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA) was agreed upon. Since then, CADA held regular periodic meetings with the institutional and financial assistance of CICAD. Subsequently, the countries decided to incorporate CADA into the Andean Integration System. In its fifth meeting, celebrated on June 22 and 23, 2004 in Lima, Peru, CADA agreed to develop an Andean Strategy of Alternative Development for its presentation to the XVI Regular Meeting of the Andean Presidential Council in 2005.

The Strategy constitutes an effort by the Andean countries to establish a common vision of the illicit crop cultivation problem, using an integrated and sustainable approach. Its creation, under Colombia’s leadership in its capacity as chair of CADA, is based on the study of existing programs, strategies, projects and experiences in the Andean region.

The Strategy was recently approved (July 16, 2005) by the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and has now been included in the regulatory framework of the Andean Community.

For further information on the Andean Strategy for Alternative Development, please visit the following links (all in Spanish only):

http://www.comunidadandina.org/cumbre_lima/np16-7-05a.htm

http://www.comunidadandina.org/cumbre_lima/acuerdos.htm

Sistema de Informacion de Desarrollo Alternativo para la Region Andina (SIDARA) (Alternative Development Information System for Alternative Development for the Andean Region)

For further information on the different Alternative Development programs, please contact CICAD's Alternative Development Unit.