FAO Digital Media Hub - ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony

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ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony

ECUADOR, 2025. María is the coordinator of the Chakras Andinas SIPAM project

ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony

ECUADOR, 2025. Local farmer Magdalena at work with her daughter

ECUADOR, 2025. María is the coordinator of the Chakras Andinas SIPAM project

ECUADOR, 2025. Cooking with fava beans

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ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony

08 July 2025. Cuicocha, Ecuador. María Piñan, coordinator of the Chakras Andinas SIPAM project, participates in the ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony held by the Ancestral Women’s Committee of UNORCAC (Union of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Cotacachi) at Cuicocha Lagoon. Their altar represents the four elements—water, air, earth, and fire—and includes seeds native to the region. For these Kichwa women, spirituality is deeply connected to conservation and biodiversity, guiding their relationship with the land and the protection of native seeds and ecosystems.

07/08/2025

Country or Territory Ecuador

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

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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.