Bioeconomía subnacional: Visiones y hoja de ruta en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The document details a participatory process to define a subnational bioeconomy for Valle del Cauca, Colombia, focusing on the agricultural, agro-industrial, and nature tourism sectors. It proposes a transition toward 'bioresource' and 'bioecology' visions that balance economic growth with environmental sustainability and social inclusion. The resulting roadmap emphasizes the need for a multi-actor governance scheme, targeted financial incentives for circularity, and critical infrastructure improvements in rural transport and basic services to enable the processing of biological resources.

• The Valle del Cauca department possesses significant bioeconomy potential due to its 35 ecosystems, including mangroves, páramos, and forest reserves, and its leadership in sugarcane production, which provides 87.7% of Colombia's total.
• The region's current bioeconomy is heavily concentrated in biofuels and electricity cogeneration from sugarcane, with the department contributing 72% of national sugarcane ethanol and 92% of sugarcane bagasse cogeneration in the Cauca river valley.
• The agricultural sector's 2050 vision focuses on 'bioresources,' aiming for climate-smart, multifunctional production systems (such as silvopasture and agroforestry) that utilize biofertilizers and biocontrols to reduce agrochemical use.
• The agro-industrial sector's 2050 vision emphasizes the creation of 'social rural biorefineries' to produce high-value products like nutraceuticals and biomaterials from 10 priority biological resources, including taro (papa china), chontaduro, and cassava.
• The nature tourism sector's 2050 vision blends 'bioresources' and 'bioecology,' targeting 8% annual growth while using wildlife-centered tourism (e.g., whales, dolphins, birds) as a conservation strategy.
• A critical barrier to subnational bioeconomy implementation is the lack of rural infrastructure; only 42.3% of tertiary roads connecting rural areas in Valle del Cauca are paved, and those that are are in poor condition.
• The proposed roadmap suggests establishing a multi-sectoral governance body, potentially led by the Chamber of Commerce of Cali (CCC), to coordinate a 2050 action plan based on SWOT analysis and sustainability standards.
• The document identifies Buenaventura as a strategic hub for a 'blue bioeconomy,' utilizing marine resources (fish, aquaculture, macroalgae) to create a new development paradigm for a district with high multidimensional poverty (41% in 2018).
• Successful subnational bioeconomy innovation requires a 'quadruple helix' model involving the State, industry, academia, and civil society to ensure that knowledge is transferred to businesses via spin-offs and that social values guide trade-offs.

APA

Canales, N., Trujillo, M., & Purkey, D. (2021). Bioeconomía subnacional: Visiones y hoja de ruta en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/canales-ortiz-working-paper-bioeconomia-regional-valle-del-cauca-21062021.pdf

Chicago

Canales, Nella, Mónica Trujillo, and David Purkey. Bioeconomía subnacional: Visiones y hoja de ruta en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/canales-ortiz-working-paper-bioeconomia-regional-valle-del-cauca-21062021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Canales |first1=Nella |last2=Trujillo |first2=Mónica |last3=Purkey |first3=David |title=Bioeconomía subnacional: Visiones y hoja de ruta en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=June 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/canales-ortiz-working-paper-bioeconomia-regional-valle-del-cauca-21062021.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canales2021bioeconoma, author = {Canales, Nella and Trujillo, Mónica and Purkey, David}, title = {{Bioeconomía subnacional: Visiones y hoja de ruta en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/canales-ortiz-working-paper-bioeconomia-regional-valle-del-cauca-21062021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }