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ECUADOR 2025. Jazmin is a member of the local community groups

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ECUADOR, 2025. Members of local community groups

09 July 2025. El Cercado, Ecuador. Artisan José Manuel Guandinango and Alexandra Alta, member of the UNORCAC (Union of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Cotacachi) women’s group, place an embroidered ribbon in the hair of Jazmín Chávez, promoter for the strengthening of savings groups. This act reflects the deep connection between cultural identity, traditional knowledge, and the collective efforts of women in Cotacachi to build community resilience and preserve ancestral practices.

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 10.15 MB

Unique ID UF1ADRH

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.