Colombia triangle puts cocoa before coca

In Colombia, the world's top cocaine producer, that nexus between leftist rebels and drug traffickers has fueled a half-century conflict that has killed more than 260,000 people and left 60,000 missing.

It also translated into a bleak reality for many farmers.

Now many have signed up for a new government program to encourage coca farmers to switch to legal crops. It subsidizes cocoa farming, and also gives producers direct deals with chocolate manufacturers so they can sell at the market price — no middleman to take a cut.

Source: AFP