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ECUADOR, 2025. Zayra arrives for the community group meeting

09 July 2025. El Cercado, Ecuador. Zayra Marisol Lanchimba, treasurer of the women’s savings group in the community of El Cercado, arrives at the monthly meeting of the group. These gatherings strengthen economic autonomy, solidarity, and the leadership of Indigenous women working collectively to improve nutrition and livelihoods for their families.

07/09/2025

Country or Territory Ecuador

Related URL Related FAO Feature Story: https://www.fao.org/newsroom/story/secrets-of-the-andean-chakras/en

UNFAO Source FAO Photo Library

File size 14.01 MB

Unique ID UF1ADR3

Editorial use only. Photo credit must be given. For further information contact: Photo-Library@fao.org

Background Information Kichwa women and their ancestral agricultural knowledge have sustained food security in Ecuador’s highlands for centuries. Their farms, known as chakra, were recognized in 2023 by FAO as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). Indigenous women like Magdalena are seed guardians, preserving native maize varieties and passing this knowledge to her daughter Verónica.

Climate change-related droughts, floods and pests threaten this system, but with FAO’s support, organizations like UNORCAC work with Kichwa communities to strengthen resilience through the use and exchange of native seeds.