A hidden valley
An hour and a half by car, northeast of Bogota and in a hidden inter-Andean valley with an area of about 7,800 hectares, at 2,650 meters above sea level surrounded by moorland, there are about 25 peasant houses randomly distributed. The scenery is beautiful, so much so that in the past some visitors bought land to build their recreational houses, but there is no more room for them. Two small rivers that flow down from the peaks join at a central point in the valley; they are the veins that feed the plots where white, red and black spotted dairy cattle graze.
Two particular buildings can be distinguished in the distance. One with a large, red, semicircular roof that is undoubtedly a school. And the other, which when you get closer turns out to be two united; one of them is the headquarters of the COLEGA dairy cooperative and the other is the HolaAndes Cheese Factory, both distinguished by an extensive patio with a cement floor where every morning and afternoon the farmers take the fresh milk from cows that have been improved in a continuous process of breeding adjustments, as well as their technically cultivated pastures and demanding practices to guarantee quality. This allows the cooperative members to achieve productions between 18 and 24 liters/cow/day, with very high levels of quality.
A humble pride can be perceived in the voice and look of any of the farmers, who arriving to deliver the freshly milked milk, meets with their neighbors, partners and relatives to taste a tinto, that obligatory Colombian coffee that is drunk very hot, accompanied by a circle of cheerful voices, in front of the large meeting room built with their own contributions.
Instead of generational handover
Originally a motoring journalist and publicist, José Ignacio Tamayo, manager of COLEGA since its inception, came to the Monquentiva hamlet some 38 years ago, accompanying a friend who was passionate about fishing and discovered this paradisiacal place. To do so, at that time, implied a hazardous trip through a narrow road that crosses the Guasca moor. There in Monquentiva he found more than enough reasons to buy a small piece of land and little by little build a house for him and his wife for the years to come. However, beyond simply enjoying the landscape and the company of his peasant neighbors, José Ignacio began a fruitful dialogue with himself, his family and his neighbors in Monquentiva, which led him to perceive a promising future if he could unite to sell at a better price the little milk that allowed them to survive at that time with an elementary economy.
José Ignacio’s relationships allowed him to reach COLANTA, a huge dairy cooperative of national scope, which buys milk under strict quality and compliance commitments. Thus began a process of cooperative training and technical learning that spread among the farmers of Monquentiva, until the COLEGA cooperative was formally established 24 years ago. Along the way, he managed to promote the formation of cooperatives in several neighboring villages, eventually joining the Association of Dairy Cooperatives of Guatavita ASOLEGA, a second-level solidarity organization that represents about 600 small producers, with regional and national economic, political and environmental implications.
José Ignacio Tamayo together with Elías Romero are part of the generation of 24 pioneers, who over the years and thanks to the cooperative process, have promoted under the tender name of COLEGUITAS (little colleagues) the formation of new generations that are familiar with the philosophy of cooperatives: associativity, reciprocity, solidarity, identity and territory. This is how the children and grandchildren have joined in.
When asked when the generational handover will take place, José Ignacio explains: “I prefer to talk about integration”. This comment reflects one of COLEGA’s mottos: to work on preparing new leaders among the cooperative’s young people. In fact, you see quite a few young men and women, families with their little ones, delivering milk, girls in different jobs in the cooperative, or playing with their dolls in the corridors of COLEGA. In talking with them we learned that some have lived in the city, working or studying, others have studied university degrees from a distance; but almost all have returned to the countryside or simply stayed in their village, and not for lack of opportunity to leave, but for the instilled love for their homeland and their cooperative enterprise.
Customized growth
Since then, the production of Gouda holaAndes cheese has gone from strength to strength, with presentations in its natural state or with spices such as mustard, pepper, thyme or truffle, under the same motto: quality before quantity.
The delicately produced Gouda cheese matures in a natural cellar at the cooperative’s plant in Monquentiva and enjoys a select clientele in Bogotá, including gourmet restaurants, delicatessens and private customers. Ángela Díaz and Laura Paola Peña belong to COLEGA’s younger generation and work in the cheese factory. Laura Paola, an occupational health professional, says with a big smile on her face: “I love my job at the cheese factory”. Angela, a zoo-technician, adds: “It would be difficult to find a similar job in the city”. And like them, there are already several professionals who do not plan to migrate to the city, “because our future lies in the countryside and in our cooperative”.
Rural welfare
Messages to the Future
1
In Monquentiva something beautiful has been achieved, sowing the future in the countryside. Several generations under the same associative roof and where young people opt for their life project in the countryside and not for lack of opportunities outside.
2
3
As a lesson learned, it can be summarized that, instead of accepting the race for perpetual growth, COLEGA’s experience shows that there are alternative paths, more harmonious with enormous potential for the future, particularly for the younger generations.
The text was prepared, based on conversations during the visit to Monquentiva, Guatavita municipality in Colombia, at the end of October 2023 by Mauricio Gnecco, convinced accomplice of the Almanac of the Future and manager of Campus Universitas and Jorge Krekeler (coordinator of the Almanac of the Future – facilitator of Misereor on behalf of Agiamondo). A big thank you to Elías Romero, president and José Ignacio Tamayo, manager of the Cooperativa de Lecheros de Guatavita COLEGA and to all the people and families who are members of the cooperative, for their time and openness to the curiosity of the visit of the Almanac of the Future.
Authors:
- Jorge Krekeler / jorge.krekeler@posteo.de
- Mauricio Gnecco y Jorge Krekeler jorge.krekeler@posteo.de
Design:
- Gabriela Avendaño.
- Ida Peñaranda
Photos:
Mauricio Gnecco
Jorge Krekeler
Contact information regarding the documented experience:
José Ignacio Tamayo y Elías Romero
Management and Presidency of COLEGA
Facebook: ColegaMonquentiva
HolaAndes
Quesería Artesanal Monquentiva
Instagram: quesería_holandes
Edition:
January 2024
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