FAO Digital Media Hub - ECUADOR, 2025. Sorting maize seeds

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ECUADOR, 2025. Sorting maize seeds

08 July 2025. Calera, Ecuador. Martha Tuquerres, the first woman president of UNORCAC (Union of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Cotacachi), sorts maize seeds in the courtyard of her home. She is the first woman in her family to earn a university degree and has been part of several community and women’s organizations in Cotacachi.

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

UNFAO Source FAO Photo Library

File size 16.08 MB

Unique ID UF1ADQ7

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.