With cocaine production at an all-time high, Colombia’s government is testing a pacific approach to its narcotics problem: paying farmers to uproot crops of coca, the drug’s main ingredient
All photographs by Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images
Main image: A mixed coffee and coca leaf plantation in Argelia, Cauca department, Colombia. Photograph: Juan Restrepo/AFP/Getty Images
Mon 9 Jun 2025 08.00 CEST
Farmers Alirio Caicedo and his son Nicolas are among the beneficiaries of the government scheme. A decade ago they planted an expanse of coca as they staked their future on the continued patronage of criminal gangs. Today, they are uprooting the crops and hoping for the best
