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Philanthropist with a cause- Howard Buffett

Like his father, Buffett, 65, has a reputation for folksy, Midwestern plain speech and self-effacing humor. Although he's a three-time college dropout, his father wants him to succeed him as the non-executive chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the $550 billion conglomerate that owns companies such as Duracell, Dairy Queen and GEICO insurance as well as major stakes in leading U.S. airlines and banks.

But he's spent much of his adult life roving the world taking wildlife photos and writing books. He's also a corn farmer and made headlines in 2017 by briefly serving as the sheriff of Macon County, Illinois, where he lives and his foundation is based.

He began exploring the world as a teenager on a trip to Soviet-controlled Prague in 1969 to visit one of the many exchange students his mother hosted at their home in Omaha, Nebraska. But his love of travel hasn't been matched by culinary curiosity: In Catatumbo, he carried around a blue, insulated lunch pack containing his requisite PB&J sandwich and a Dr. Pepper.

​Treading on a dangerous territory

With Colombian military snipers in position, Howard Buffett descends from a helicopter and trudges through the wet grass in steel-toe boots chewed through by his dog's teeth.

Waiting under a tin-roofed shack is a small group of coca farmers. They've never heard of multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffett, but after decades of neglect by their own government they're grateful for the outstretched hand of his eldest son, who they refer to simply as ``the gringo.''

``There's a saying here: The less you know, the better,`` said Ruben Morantes, his leathery skin and calloused hands a testament to a lifetime of tillage in one of Colombia's most-dangerous territories, where outsiders are traditionally mistrusted.

​Buffett's pledge to redeem Colombia

For nearly two decades Buffett has crisscrossed the world giving away part of his father's fortune to promote food security, conflict mitigation and public safety. But his latest gamble is one of the most daunting yet: helping Colombia kick its cocaine curse.

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation has committed to spending $200 million over the next few years to transform the impoverished municipality into a model of comprehensive state building. Plans include strengthening security forces and helping farmers secure land titles and substitute coca _ the raw material for cocaine _ with licit crops like cacao.

In the image: View of the forest fire started after authorities found and burned a laboratory for cocaine process in Guasca, Colombia.

​The focal point

Howard Buffett is focusing on Tibu, heart of the remote, notoriously lawless Catatumbo region bordering Venezuela where Buffett accompanied President Ivan Duque.

Tibu has the second largest coca crop in all of Colombia _ 28,200 acres (11,400 hectares), according to the United Nations. Drug production as well as violence has skyrocketed in the area since armed groups filled the void left by retreating rebels who signed a peace deal with the government in 2016.

In the image: Howard Buffett, left, talks to Colombia's President Ivan Duque aboard an air force plane before departing from Bogota

​Providing a viable market, a challenge

The first component is building 300 kilometers of roads to connect the municipality's 37,000 residents for the first time with national and international markets. It's a challenge made more difficult by lurking guerrillas who last year detonated a homemade bomb as army engineers were working on the road, killing five people and injuring several.

``The only way we have confidence that farmers can grow legal crops is if they can get those crops to market,'' Buffett told farmers during a visit last month with Duque to La Gabarra, a rural outpost in Tibu. It was the first time any Colombian president had visited the blood-soaked hamlet.

The plan envisions subsidies and training for farmers as they switch crops, as well as helping them find buyers. It also aims to strengthen infrastructure for local law enforcement.

In the image: Authorities found and burned a laboratory for cocaine process in Guasca, Colombia