From disposed to empowered : Peasant's upgrading across the palm oil value chain

The present research paper analyses the conditions that determined the upgrading process of two Colombian palm oil cooperatives, El Palmar and El Horizonte, across their value chain as an empowerment path for their members. This process was visualized, created, and implemented by Indupalma, the leader company in the region, as an expansion program that is delimited by the specific socioeconomic context from the establishment of the company, the subsequent creation of these two cooperatives, their evolution until the present times when are profitable companies. To understand how was it developed the focus would be the empowerment assessment through the International Cooperative Alliance principles, the control over the means of production, and the degree of tension in the network in each upgrading stage. Finally, the process would be critically considered by the strategies of the actors involved and the problems or advantages that it brought to the initial members of the cooperatives.