Rural development is a crucial component of peacebuilding in Colombia after decades of armed conflict. The objective of this study is to monitor rural development in Colombia in the period between 2018 and 2022. Although, given the scarcity of informa...
Rural development is a crucial component of peacebuilding in Colombia after decades of armed conflict. The objective of this study is to monitor rural development in Colombia in the period between 2018 and 2022. Although, given the scarcity of information at the municipal level this research does not directly evaluate the implementation of the comprehensive rural reform contemplated in the 2016 peace accords, the timeframe provides an overview of the results of its first years of implementation at the departmental level through the comparison of a Territorial Rural Development Index (IDRT) that contemplates five different categories: infrastructure, institutional management, economy, inclusion and ecosystems. The IDRT results for the 32 departments analyzed indicate that there were no significant changes in rural development during the period evaluated. It can also be seen that the historical gaps between departments have not only remained the same but are tending to widen. Likewise, there is evidence of significant lags in terms of gender, ethnicity, and territorial approach, which would be related to the materialization of risks identified in qualitative research previously conducted by other authors.