A Decade of Building Colombia’s Bioeconomy
Colombia’s bioeconomy has not emerged suddenly; it has been constructed progressively over more than a decade through scientific expeditions, strategic policy design, institutional strengthening, and territorial innovation. Milestones such as Colombia Bio—with its scientific expeditions that identified biologically valuable compounds—laid early foundations. These were strengthened by the Green Growth Mission and its CONPES 3934, which for the first time defined bioeconomy in national policy and outlined 25 actions for 2030. The trajectory continued through the Mission of Wise Men, the National Bioeconomy Mission (2019–2020) supported by GGGI, and the integration of bioeconomy into the National Development Plan, culminating in the updated 2023 Bioeconomy Mission with a deepened territorial focus.
During the dialogue organised by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) on 27 November 2025, Juan Pablo Bustamante, Colombia Program Manager, captured this long evolution succinctly when he noted that “Colombia made the deliberate choice to turn biodiversity into a pathway for development, not merely a symbol of national pride.” From there, the discussion unfolded into a reflection on how this choice has been operationalised—through policy continuity, scientific institutions capable of innovation, enterprises able to translate biodiversity into products, and territorial partnerships that enable development closest to the source of natural wealth.
A Flagship Publication Marking a Turning Point
The launch of GGGI’s flagship publication on Colombia’s bioeconomy, titled “Unlocking the Potential of the Bioeconomy: Lessons and experiences from Colombia’s journey” provided the analytical backbone of the session. The publication synthesizes work undertaken since 2019: building policy frameworks, designing interinstitutional mechanisms, strengthening innovation pathways, and facilitating public–private–community alliances. Presenting the document, Cristian Rivera, Senior Circular Bioeconomy Officer at GGGI, emphasised that Colombia’s progress increasingly stems from its ability to connect science with markets. In his words, “The bioeconomy is not just about innovation — it is about building the mechanisms that allow innovation to survive long enough to make a difference.”
This framing guided the conversation into the practical architecture underpinning Colombia’s bioeconomy.
MAPBIO and the Missing Middle: Bridging Ideas and Markets
A central focus of the session was MAPBIO, Colombia’s mechanism for accelerating high-value bioproducts—designed by GGGI in 2020, implemented since 2021, and supported by UK PACT. MAPBIO targets the intermediate development stage of bioproducts, addressing the well-known “valley of death” where promising innovations stall due to a lack of regulatory testing, formulation refinement, feasibility studies, or market validation.
Across its first three cohorts, MAPBIO demonstrated how targeted technical assistance can unlock real progress in Colombia’s bioeconomy. The programme supported 13 innovation projects and helped accelerate 26 high–added-value bioproducts derived from more than 15 native species, including naidí (açaí), achiote, Sacha Inchi, camu camu, copoazú, and Sapindus saponaria (chumbimbo). More than 500 people benefited from these initiatives—about 80% of whom were connected to rural associations—with women representing roughly half of all participants. The programme helped sustain over 100 existing jobs and create more than 50 new green jobs, while investing more than USD 500,000 in technical assistance and innovation support. Several nationally relevant products emerged from this process: among them Fosfotal, a biofertilizer developed by Agrosavia, validated under ICA protocols in rice and maize trials that allows farmers to reduce phosphorus fertilizer use by approximately 55%, and TriEstimul, a consortium of three microorganisms that improves nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization, drought tolerance, and overall crop productivity and has now entered commercialization through a partnership with the private sector (Forbio).
Yet MAPBIO also revealed an unexpected systemic barrier. Even when products successfully reach the market, many face a second “valley of death” in which they struggle to compete with conventional alternatives despite strong environmental advantages. This insight is now informing the design of future support mechanisms, especially those intended to strengthen commercialisation strategies, market positioning, and pathways to scale.
Agrosavia: Science Providing Structure to the Bioeconomy
The institutional depth behind Colombia’s bioeconomy emerged clearly through the example of Agrosavia, the country’s leading agricultural research authority. With more than 25 years of experience developing biopesticides, biofertilizers, veterinary probiotics, prebiotics, and vaccines, Agrosavia manages the full technological readiness pipeline—from laboratory discovery to pilot production across its 13 research centres.
Yet, as Marta Gómez, Entailment Director at Agrosavia, explained, research excellence alone does not guarantee market entry. Regulatory trials, large-scale validation, formulation optimisation, and pilot manufacturing often fall outside traditional research budgets. MAPBIO filled these gaps by financing ICA-approved efficacy trials, economic feasibility studies, and 850-litre pilot fermentation runs with commercial partners. These steps were decisive in enabling Agrosavia to register both Fosfotal and TriEstimul, bringing them from laboratory concept to products now available on the national market.
MAPBIO also enabled a significant engagement and outreach support: Biofertilizando, an interactive educational game that helped Agrosavia reach young people across the Andean, Caribbean, Pacific, and Orinoquía regions. This catalysed a broader youth engagement strategy—AgroKids—that now uses games, videos, and storytelling to build future talent for the bioeconomy.
Selvacéutica: Bioeconomy Rooted in Territory
The perspective from Selvacéutica grounded the discussion in the lived realities of the Chocó biogeographical region—one of Colombia’s most biodiverse areas, but also one of its most structurally underserved. Selvacéutica operates as both an innovation hub and a producer of phytotherapeutic products, functional foods, and biocosmetics, working hand in hand with more than 600 local producers whose knowledge and stewardship of native species form the foundation of the company’s value proposition.
The enterprise’s journey illustrated the persistent territorial challenges that shape bioeconomy development at the forest frontier. Accordingly to Mabel Torres, Founder of Selvacéutica, energy infrastructure in the region remains too weak to reliably support industrial equipment, limiting production continuity. Registering natural ingredients that are not yet included in international INCI listings carries significant regulatory costs, placing a disproportionate burden on small and medium bio-based companies. The availability of qualified personnel is limited, and even when local expertise is cultivated, skilled staff are often recruited away by better-funded employers outside the territory. Climate-related risks add a further layer of vulnerability, as recurrent flooding threatens physical facilities and disrupts operations.
MAPBIO’s support helped Selvacéutica move past several of these barriers by strengthening claims substantiation, improving the quality of regulatory submissions, and refining product formulations derived from native species. Beyond technical assistance, the programme helped affirm a broader truth: a thriving bioeconomy must be territorially rooted, built on the relationships among communities, ecosystems, and local knowledge systems that give biodiversity-based innovation its meaning and resilience.
Ecohome: Competing in Global Bio-based Value Chains
Ecohome offered a different but equally instructive window into Colombia’s bioeconomy. Working with Sapindus saponaria (chumbimbo), the company has developed two interconnected business lines: biodegradable detergents for domestic retailers and high-value bio-inputs for international dermocosmetic firms. MAPBIO’s support helped the enterprise refine formulations, document sustainability claims, and strengthen the technical and regulatory evidence required to enter export markets.
As highlighted by Maritza López, Ecohome’s CEO, the recent successful expansion into Chile is an example of how Colombian biodiversity-based innovations can secure a place in global value chains when supported by rigorous testing, clear traceability, and credible environmental safeguards. Yet Ecohome’s experience also illustrated the structural constraints faced by companies building from biodiversity: higher production costs, demanding certification requirements, and the challenge of articulating territorial supply chains in a way that is compatible with international standards.
International Cooperation and GGGI’s Convening Role
International partners — particularly the United Kingdom through the UK PACT programme — highlighted how their collaboration with GGGI has helped advance Colombia’s bioeconomy by supporting innovation, strengthening institutional coordination, and enabling the development of strategic knowledge products. The discussion also emphasised GGGI’s role in convening diverse actors and ensuring that flagship work, such as the new bioeconomy publication, informs policymaking and capacity-building efforts. Looking ahead, the cooperation is expected to deepen through analytical work on bioproduct export potential and continued engagement with global research partners, including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Cross-Cutting Insights Emerging from the Dialogue
Taken together, the experiences shared throughout the session revealed a bioeconomy shaped as much by its enabling conditions as by its individual success stories. Colombia’s progress has been made possible in large part by the continuity of its policy frameworks, which have enabled institutions to evolve rather than restart with each new political cycle. Territorial inclusion remains essential; the bioeconomy delivers its strongest results when value is added close to biodiversity sources, creating fair and lasting benefits for local communities.
Hence, the discussion also made clear that important challenges persist. Scientific capacity, business development skills, and regulatory expertise remain uneven across regions, reinforcing the need for sustained investment in human talent. Access to finance continues to constrain enterprises, as biological assets and long innovation cycles do not fit neatly within traditional credit models. Participants emphasised that international cooperation could play a catalytic role — but only when it aligns with national priorities and strengthens locally driven solutions. In this way, Colombia’s experience offers relevant lessons for other biodiversity-rich countries aiming to link ecological stewardship with economic diversification.
A Bioeconomy Still Taking Shape — and Leading by Example
Colombia has not only embraced the bioeconomy — it is demonstrating how one can be built through coordinated policy, scientific excellence, entrepreneurial energy, territorial partnerships, and international cooperation. The next steps are clear: scaling the momentum already underway, modernising regulatory systems, strengthening financial instruments, and accelerating the transition from research and pilots to market-ready, biodiversity-based solutions. As this work advances, Colombia is shaping a model from which other nations can draw inspiration — one where ecological stewardship and economic opportunity reinforce each other rather than compete.
Watch the full recording of the webinar: https://www.greenpolicyplatform.org/webinar/unlocking-potential-bioeconomy-lessons-and-experiences-colombias-journey
Read GGGI`s flagship publication: https://gggi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GGGI_Flagship_Insight-Brief_26JUN2025_compressed.pdf
