Elena Hernández moved to the coca-growing region of Guaviare during the boom of the 1990s, attracted by better wages.

“Back then there was more money, you could see it everywhere,” he says. “I managed to save up and buy a small house.”

But the coca industry also brought violence and insecurity. Armed groups fought for control, while the government attempted to curb production through manual eradication, aerial fumigation and arrests.

These efforts cut into families’ income but failed to stop cultivation.

So when the then-government introduced a nationwide substitution program in 2017, Hernández was eager to sign up, joining some 100,000 families who were promised financial support in exchange for quitting coke.

Each household was to receive 36 million Colombian pesos ($11,000; £8,000), spread over a two-year period.

“The way it was presented to us seemed very promising for the development of our territory,” says Hernández.

The program, known as the National Comprehensive Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops (PNIS), was born from the 2016 peace agreement between the government and Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the FARC.

In exchange for uprooting their coca plants, farmers would also receive technical support, including from agronomists, and advice on soil management.

Although replacement programs had existed before, their scale remained limited. The PNIS was the most ambitious attempt to date and at first seemed to be working.

In southern parts of Meta and Guaviare, coca fields were replaced by lemon trees, banana crops and small livestock farms. Many farmers, like Hernández, stayed away from coca.

However, that doesn’t mean they consider it a success.

“The government was not very committed to us farmers. They treated us badly,” explains Hernández, pointing out the problems that arose from the beginning.

Payments were delayed and technical support often did not materialize. The weak presence of the State in rural areas and poor coordination between agencies meant that support often did not reach communities.

The momentum behind the program weakened as political priorities changed. Iván Duque, who assumed the presidency of Colombia in 2018, refocused the government’s focus on eradication and security strategies.

When current President Gustavo Petro took office in 2022, the PNIS was behind schedule and struggling to reach communities.

But some farmers reported improvements. For Doralba Bejarano, from Puerto Rico in southern Meta, her situation improved as stagnant support began to arrive.

“Before the show we were terrified,” he says. “We had to hide the coca paste because the police, the military, put us in jail.” Coca paste is a more concentrated form of coca used to produce cocaine, allowing producers to earn more than selling raw leaves.

Now, he says, he has peace of mind: “I go where I want. I have no reason to hide.”

She says many in her community are now receiving government support to promote and sell their non-coca crops and other food products.