Close
Home
Help
Library
Login
FAO Staff Login
Register
0
Selected
Invert selection
Deselect all
Deselect all
Click here to refresh results
Click here to refresh results
Digital Asset Management (DAM) by Orange Logic
Go to Login page
Hide details
Alternative Versions
Tags
Farmers
Seeds (food)
Explore More Collections
Conceptually similar
ECUADOR, 2025. Holding container with garden fruits
ECUADOR, 2025. Hand holding corn seed
ECUADOR, 2025. Holding bean seeds
ECUADOR, 2025. Holding red maize cob
ECUADOR, 2025. Sorting maize seeds
ECUADOR, 2025. Harvesting goldenberries
ECUADOR, 2025. Threshing rye, knocking the seeds from the stalks
ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony
ECUADOR 2025. Holding head of broccoli
ECUADOR, 2025. Farmers daughter holds chick
ECUADOR, 2025. MarÃa is the coordinator of the Chakras Andinas SIPAM project
ECUADOR, 2025. MarÃa is the coordinator of the Chakras Andinas SIPAM project
ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony
ECUADOR, 2025. Pouring flax seeds
ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony
ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony
ECUADOR, 2025. Centeno, a rye variety
ECUADOR, 2025. Martha, the first woman president of UNORCAC
ECUADOR, 2025. Rodrigo Pacheco, FAO Goodwill Ambassador with member of the Women’s Committee of UNORCAC
ECUADOR, 2025. FAO Goodwill Ambassador Rodrigo Pacheco with Women’s Committee member, Luz MarÃa
Similar tones
View images with similar tones
Add to collection
Download
ECUADOR 2025. Holding centeno or buckwheat seeds
07 July 2025. Cumbas, Ecuador. MarÃa Piñan, leader of UNORCAC (Union of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Cotacachi), holds centeno seeds in her hands.
07/07/2025
Country or Territory
Ecuador
Credit
© FAO / Johanna Alarcón
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
9.75 MB
Unique ID
UF1ADN7
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.