Watch RTD’s ‘The Coca Trap: Non-Narcos’ Documentary

Harvesting coca leaf, the base ingredient for making cocaine, is the only way to put food on the table for many in rural Colombia. “No one wants to do this, but circumstances force us,” they say.

Their livelihood has come under threat following the government’s landmark peace treaty with FARC rebels. Coca growers have been told to switch to legal substitutes in exchange for a government subsidy and technical assistance.

It didn’t go as planned, however. Farmers say they can’t leave illegal cultivation behind, as the government has fallen short of its promises and members of the armed forces continue to destroy their crops.