During their childhood, brothers Daniel (Class of 2004) and David Villegas (Class of 2008) witnessed the armed conflict in Colombia. Hoping to protect them, their parents decided to move to a rural area on the outskirts of the city of Medellín. It was there that both brothers began to embrace a way of life that fascinated them for its simplicity and natural richness, but concerned them due to the hardships and lack of opportunities. As they explain, their parents instilled in them a critical and empathetic perspective on their own realities and those of others.
Daniel was the first to arrive at EARTH. When David saw what his brother was doing at the University, he decided to follow in his footsteps. They shared the same calling: to contribute to the development of rural communities through agriculture, one of their country’s most important economic activities. As students, both brothers deepened their sense of empathy. They learned to connect with classmates from vastly different cultures, with farmers from diverse rural communities, with high-profile professionals and professors, and with donors who make EARTH’s mission possible. These experiences gave them a broad range of perspectives for understanding the world, for communicating with people, and for dreaming. This was the foundation of a shared goal: the creation of the Salva Terra Foundation.
For David, the Foundation was born from a promise he made to the donor who supported his scholarship at EARTH: that he would return to his country and do everything possible to share what he had learned at the University with rural communities. After graduating, he returned to Colombia and began studying public policy to understand how to build a foundation from the ground up. Meanwhile, Daniel was marketing organic and biological agricultural inputs and working closely with vulnerable rural communities. It was then that he began to see how difficult it was for smallholder farmers to access resources like the ones he sold. From the beginning, he decided to provide financial support to David and later joined Salva Terra full-time as Research and Development Coordinator.
The Foundation works across three main areas: education, research and development, and marketing. Its goal is to support smallholder farmers throughout the entire value chain, from conducting community assessments and establishing crops to bringing products to markets where producers can earn a better income.
According to David, who serves as Salva Terra’s Director, one of the main challenges facing rural development in Colombia is building bridges that connect farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs with markets and sustainable economic opportunities. This challenge has led Salva Terra to work across dozens of product categories and to create initiatives like PaisSana, a national brand that brings together thousands of producers, many of whom come from territories affected by the armed conflict or are involved in processes to replace illicit crops.
The work of the Villegas brothers and the Salva Terra Foundation team begins with listening to and observing the real needs of communities to develop technical and social solutions. “We put ourselves in the producer’s shoes. Many times, the problem may appear to be economic. But when you look deeper, you discover that the root cause may lie in the soil, a crop disease, the market, or even the fact that the crop is not suited to the conditions of the area,” Daniel explains. Based on this analysis, the team develops solutions tailored to each community, combining applied research, microbiology, environmental management, and market knowledge.
The Foundation’s impact has been significant for hundreds of people in Colombia. But the Villegas brothers believe it is important to shed light on the challenges that an organization like theirs faces every day—from personal circumstances, such as an illness that left David with reduced mobility for nearly two years, to financial challenges, such as an investment that did not turn out as expected. They embraced these difficulties as opportunities for growth and, as a result, have rethought Salva Terra operations to strengthen its structure and build a purpose-driven business ecosystem that supports the Foundation’s long-term sustainability without compromising its principles.
Today, the Villegas brothers remain convinced that rural development requires much more than good intentions. It requires listening, generating knowledge, building relationships based on trust, and creating economic opportunities that endure over time. Both continue working to fulfill the promise David made nearly two decades ago: to put his knowledge at the service of those who need it most.
