Cine a la Farm Campaigns Launch in Colombia with First Community Screening
A Participatory Approach Rooted in Local Realities
From 28 to 31 October 2025, the CHOICE project launched its first Cine a la Finca (Cinema at the Farm) community event in Cauca, Colombia. This marked the beginning of an innovative participatory campaign led by AMUCC, SUPRACAFÉ, and TECNiCAFÉ to support women coffee farmers in responding to the impacts of climate change through storytelling, dialogue, and collective learning.
Premiere of “The Weather is Changing, So Do I”
The campaign’s opening event featured the premiere of a peer-produced video titled The Weather is Changing, So Do I, created by and for the women farmers themselves. The video, which includes subtitles, captures their reflections on changes in weather patterns, reduced water availability, declining soil health, and the growing challenges in managing coffee crops.
The screening took place in a farm-based setting over the course of a week, creating space for community discussion and knowledge sharing. The video served as a mirror of the women’s daily experiences, helping to validate their knowledge while encouraging them to explore sustainable alternatives already emerging within their communities.
Who Participated
The event brought together 100 women from the AMUCC association, primarily those who continue to use conventional practices but are beginning to shift toward more sustainable approaches. The target audience for the overall campaign includes 490 women coffee producers.
Participants had an average age of 53 and most had completed only basic primary education, with low levels of reading and writing. Despite these challenges, the women demonstrated a high level of environmental awareness, built on lived experience and a strong cultural connection to the land.
Current Practices and Transitions
Discussions during the event revealed that most of the participants are already engaged in agroecological practices or are in transition to organic farming. Common approaches include the use of agroforestry systems incorporating Guamo and citrus trees, as well as the implementation of water-saving measures such as rainwater harvesting and water recycling during post-harvest coffee processing.
Most farms are approximately one hectare in size. While very few women have received financial support for this transition, they are actively reducing their use of chemical inputs and minimizing reliance on fossil fuels by using brush cutters for weed control only a few times a year.
Building Collective Awareness
The screening created an emotional and reflective atmosphere, encouraging women to connect their personal experiences with broader environmental shifts. One participant shared a particularly resonant insight:
“If we protect the trees, they protect us.”
The campaign aims not only to inform but also to strengthen collective awareness and agency. By facilitating dialogue around lived experiences, the event helped foster a sense of shared responsibility and hope for future adaptation.
What’s Next: Second Campaign Coming in November
The Cine a la Finca series will continue with a second campaign in mid-November 2025. The next video will focus on reducing water use during post-harvest coffee processing. It will introduce microprocessing techniques that allow women to reduce water consumption from five liters to four liters per coffee cherry.
Titled I Learn and Unlearn to Take Care of My Coffee, My Land, and My Future, the upcoming episode will encourage women to re-evaluate traditional practices and adopt new ones that better protect the environment and ensure the sustainability of their farms.
Watch the First Episode
The first episode, The Weather is Changing, So Do I, is now available to watch online Watch the video
Stay tuned as the campaign continues to highlight the voices, knowledge, and leadership of women coffee farmers in the face of climate change.
