FAO Digital Media Hub - ECUADOR, 2025. Martha, the first woman president of UNORCAC

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ECUADOR, 2025. Martha, the first woman president of UNORCAC

08 July 2025. Calera, Ecuador. Martha Tuquerres, the first woman president of UNORCAC (Union of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Cotacachi), holds Swiss chard leaves harvested from her garden. Families in the area rely on their land’s harvest as the foundation of their diet.

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 11.03 MB

Unique ID UF1ADQ8

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.