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ENCOURAGE. empowering people
Knowledge and Cooperation Create
Opportunities in Rural Regions
Fruqueña, Colombia
Despite Colombia’s dynamic economic growth, nearly 40 percent of its population lives below
the national poverty line. Rural areas, in particular, have been unable to benefit from the
economic growth. Siemens Stiftung is cooperating locally with Fundación El Cinco and other
regional partners to spur sustainable development in structurally weak regions. Fruqueña, for
instance, is a project launched in the Antioquia rural district that aims to create opportunities by
launching cooperative organizations and providing qualified vocational training. The project
strengthens social and entrepreneurial structures.
Increasing Income through Cooperatives
Currently, around 600 small farmers and their families in 13 communities are participating in the
project and focus on fruit growing. By forming agricultural cooperatives, they can make significant
improvements to the entire value chain, from growing crops to marketing, and together gain
better access to domestic and export markets. Economic independence is the declared goal.
Modern Agricultural Knowledge for the Younger Generation
A key component of the Fruqueña project is to gain economic knowledge and expertise in the
area of agriculture. Siemens Stiftung supports, in particular, the vocational training of the younger
generation; in the Fruqueña School of Fruit Horticulture (Escuela Hortofrutícola Fruqueña),
students learn about new technological innovations in the area of agriculture and are taught
modern, environmentally compatible agricultural methods, as well as organizational skills and
commercial know-how. After completing their vocational training, the certified agricultural
engineers serve as promoters and consultants for local farmers in the region helping to strengthen
entrepreneurial initiatives and stem rural depopulation.
www.siemens-stiftung.org

The Fruqueña project is embedded in an Antioquia regional government action plan aimed at
improving the living conditions of farmers. It empowers families and communities that have
suffered for decades under the latent civil war between guerrillas and paramilitary groups and
who in many cases have been driven from their land.
Partners
– Fundación El Cinco, Colombia
– Government of the Department of Antioquia
– Universidad Católica de Oriente, Antioquia
– Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje – SENA
– Corporate foundations: Fundaciones Bancolombia, Suramericana, Nutresa
– Colombian companies: Flores Esmeralda, Arquitectos e Ingenieros Asociados,
Argos, Protección
– Support through volunteer work and donations
Contact
Ulrike Wahl Haber
Tel. +56 / 9 / 75 71 91 55
Mobile +56 / 9 / 56 88 41 86
ulrike.wahl.ext@siemens-stiftung.org
Siemens Stiftung
Kaiserstraße 16
80801 München
Deutschland
www.siemens-stiftung.org