COAPRO - Cooperativa El Progreso Los Andes y Guatinaja

The Cooperativa Agrícola El Progreso Fincas Los Andes y Guatinaja (COAPRO) is made up of three banana farms: El Progreso, Los Andes and Gautinaja. The group was formed as a result of agrarian reform in the banana growing sector of Urabá in Colombia. Throughout the years, with economic and production crises and political instability, several banana companies transformed themselves into farmer-owned operations. As a result, 29 ex-workers of the Gautinaja plantation became landowners and administrators of their own farms and diffused the economic responsibility of the plantation to each landowner. In 1997, those 29 workers formed COAPRO. The cooperative purchased Finca Los Andes in 2008 and extended the cooperative’s rights and benefits to at least 75 additional farm workers.