Fields of Change: San Pablo’s Smallholders Share Their Story of Resilience

During an RSPO media trip at the start of 2026, smallholders in the town of San Pablo, central Northern Colombia, share how they have rewritten their town’s story: from a past marked by violence linked to illegal coca cultivation to a future rooted in sustainable palm oil production. RSPO Communications Manager (Americas) Juan Camilo Plazas, alongside a team of journalists, shares firsthand his colorful journey and encounters across his diverse homeland.

Written by: Juan Camilo Plazas

San Pablo emerges along the banks of the Magdalena River in northern Colombia as a living, active town. Around 30,000 people call it home. While it remains unfamiliar to many Colombians, arriving is enough to sense its vitality: movement, commerce, and clear signs of progress. Much of that energy today is closely tied to sustainably produced palm oil, which has become the municipality’s main economic engine and a source of stability for hundreds of families.

Traveling to this town in the southern region of Bolívar was about more than simply reaching a destination. It was an invitation to listen deeply, observe without judgment, and let the land tell its own story. The corregimiento (rural district) of San Pablo still bears open scars from decades of violence, which reached its peak in the 1990s and early 2000s as a result of illicit drug production.

Together with a group of journalists from leading Latin American media outlets, we set out on this RSPO media trip with a clear purpose: to reveal the story of sustainable palm oil in Colombia, as told by the people who cultivate it, process it, and rebuild their lives around it.

Landscape of contrasts

We left Bogotá before dawn on a medium-sized propeller plane bound for Barrancabermeja, 420 kilometres away from the capital of Colombia. From the air, the landscape shifted, reminding us of Colombia’s contrasts. Barrancabermeja, long known as the country’s oil (petroleum) city, remains a symbol of national production and served as a transition point before continuing toward San Pablo.

The journey took on a deeper meaning when, alongside the journalists and RSPO representatives, we boarded a small boat to navigate the Magdalena River. The sound of the engine, the wind, and the water set the rhythm of a journey that would carry us not only through geography, but through memory, resilience, and transformation.

“The sound of the engine, the wind, and the water set the rhythm of a journey that would carry us not only through geography, but through memory, resilience, and transformation.”

We set out along rural roads to visit smallholder farms, travelling for over an hour until reaching the farming estate, Villa Amparo. There, we were welcomed by Yoger Payares, a smallholder whose story embodies the profound change San Pablo has undergone since the years of violence.

Yoger is one of 208 independent growers who came together under the Promotora Asociativa de Productores del Sur de Bolívar, PromoAgrosur, a collective born from a simple yet ambitious goal: to transform their reality through the sustainable production of oil palm.

With support from the RSPO Smallholder Support Fund (RSSF), local technical assistance, and the backing of the Extractora Loma Fresca palm oil mill, the group began a process of organisational strengthening and adoption of good agricultural practices. They first achieved national certification and are now advancing toward RSPO Independent Smallholder Certification.

Rebuilding from violence: stories from smallholders

Yoger spoke openly about the years of violence that shaped his life, his family, and his community. There were long pauses, heavy silences, and visible emotion. With quiet pride, he tearfully shared how sustainable palm oil allowed him to rebuild what violence had broken.

“It´s very hard to remember those stories… we experienced violence face-to-face, just inches away, and being in a different situation today is deeply rewarding for us. Being part of this initiative has empowered us,” shared Yoger.

Today, his farm is productive, his children are studying, and his family lives with a sense of peace and direction.

“I can provide for our children’s needs in ways we never could have before. Today, I have a small house and a vehicle to transport our products; that has strengthened us and will continue to do so. What we seek with RSPO Certification is added value that generates income to support our family, our community, our surroundings and municipalities, because this truly is a chain that empowers many people,” he added.

Economic cornerstone: Loma Fresca

The day continued at Extractora Loma Fresca, a cornerstone of San Pablo’s economy and a central actor in the region’s transformation. Since 2012, the Loma Fresca mill has been operating in the area. Currently handling 30 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per hour, it generates employment, income, and stability across a zone of influence covering more than 14,000 hectares, 8,000 of which are under production.

The mill serves as the anchor that has made formalisation possible in a territory once dominated by informality and illegal economies. By choosing to invest in southern Bolívar when few others dared, the company helped open a legal and productive pathway for local communities.

During our visit, journalists learned about the wide range of products derived from sustainably produced palm oil and observed the processing stages that connect smallholder farms to national and international markets. They saw how Loma Fresca operates as a hub that integrates independent smallholders from PromoAgrosur into a formal supply chain, provides stable employment, and supports certification processes that raise standards across the territory. Here, sustainability is not a slogan. It is embedded in long term relationships built on trust, technical support, and shared responsibility.

Beyond the Plantations: a shared vision for the territory

At Loma Fresca, journalists were given rare access to tour the processing plant, following strict safety protocols. Seeing the extraction process firsthand helped connect the dots between what happens in the field and the products that reach millions of households every day.

Later, we visited the farm of Sandra Cárdenas, an inspiring female smallholder who spoke with conviction about the indispensable role women play in Colombian palm cultivation. Sandra has supported her family with palm oil production. She proudly guided us through her farm, showing how sustainability is also built through care, discipline, and female leadership.

“We are San Pableros! Palm oil farming changed everything here. It replaced the illicit crops with legal ones, where not just us, but our entire families got involved. It changed our lives. It helped us raise our children and improve our infrastructure and our farms. It’s a profitable crop that is constantly giving to us, just as we give back to it,” remarked Sandra.

We were also joined by Francisco Mejía, whose life story mirrors San Pablo’s broader transition. He began as a fisherman, but later turned to coca cultivation during the most violent years of the conflict. More than two decades ago, he chose a different path by moving into legal palm oil production which marked a profound economic and family transformation. Today, he speaks of stability, peace of mind, and a community that has found its most prosperous chapter through sustainable palm oil.

“For us, it is an honour to have you (journalists) here today, so the country can see that this way of farming palm oil is indeed possible. It’s a change in the quality of life, and it’s a change in crops as well. This can be implemented in every municipality where there are so many illicit crops. Today, it is an economic driver,” said Francisco.

On the journey back, we followed the Magdalena River once more, this time against the current. From the boat, we watched ferries carrying food, machinery, and supplies, quiet symbols of a town that now moves, produces, and looks forward.

“San Pablo shows that when palm oil is developed responsibly, with long term commitment, strong partnerships, and community organisation, it can become a genuine tool for social transformation.”

In this municipality of 30,000 inhabitants, palm oil does more than drive the economy. Today, it sustains a different narrative, one of resilience, dignity – and a better future.

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Juan Camilo Plazas is the RSPO Communications Manager (Americas). To reach him, email: [email protected]