Conflict Resolution for Agricultural Communities in Colombia

In February 2020, Attia Qureshi volunteered in Colombia to train and work with staff and associates of CorpoValle on conflict resolution and relationship management. Attia has a B.A. in Business Administration, an M.S. in Integrated Design and Management from MIT and studied communication, negotiation and conflict resolution at Harvard’s Law School of Negotiation. She works as a consultant, helping organizations deal with change and training them on how to grow, communicate and deal with uncertainty. In the past she has volunteered in Peru, South Africa and Turkey. 

During her two-week assignment, she trained Corpovalle staff on how to manage internal conflict in the associations they support. In addition, she visited some of the groups with more problems to help them find solutions. She tried to understand the biggest problems they face and helped them come to a resolution that promotes effectiveness and growth. In total, she worked with eight different associations and trained almost 140 people. Thanks to Attia’s hard work, the supported members and organizations are now better prepared to work together to ensure they grow in a way that creates value and stability. 

In her own words: "I had an incredibly rewarding experience working with F2F in Colombia for two weeks in February 2020. I was working with farming associations in the Valle del Cauca region. Some of these farming associations were changing their production to other crops, which presented challenges for the farmers. This is where my work came in. With any large change, there comes conflict. It’s completely natural, as with change there is also fear, uncertainty and a learning curve. I worked with eight farming associations to help them work through the internal conflicts they were facing while making this change.

I consider this project to be a big success, in two ways. First, I was able to train Corpovalle field consultants on the best way to manage conflict. I was then able to go into the field with the consultants and show them exactly how to start a conversation and arrive to a solution. I included the consultants in the conversation so they could engage, in addition to observing and learning. The achievements with the eight associations were also very successful, I reached two agreements with every single association I went to.

 

It was amazing to sit with a group of people unable to grow or move forward and help them find a sustainable path forward. I was able to help the associations establish operating agreements and rules for engagement. In my work, the fundamental needs are consistent whether with farming associations or a Fortune 500 board of directors. At the end of the day, we all want to be heard, respected, and supported. I am proud of the work I did to help accomplish that for such an important initiative."