FAO Digital Media Hub - ECUADOR, 2025. José María runs a small farm with his wife, Magdalena

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ECUADOR, 2025. José María runs a small farm with his wife, Magdalena

07 July 2025. Cumbas, Ecuador. José María Cumba, farmer and husband of Magdalena Laine, walks through the courtyard of their home. Together, they preserve a wide variety of native seeds from the Ecuadorian Andes.

07/07/2025

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 6.59 MB

Unique ID UF1ADP0

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.