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ECUADOR, 2025. Threshing rye, knocking the seeds from the stalks

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ECUADOR, 2025. Kichwa farmer cutting maize stalks

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ECUADOR, 2025. Kichwa farmer cutting maize stalks

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ECUADOR, 2025. Threshing rye, knocking the seeds from the stalks

07 July 2025. Cumbas, Ecuador. María Piñan, leader of UNORCAC (Unión de Organizaciones Campesinas e Indígenas de Cotacachi), and Magdalena Laine, a woman farmer, thresh rye together. This is a traditional practice used by women farmers to extract rye seeds from the spike. ©FAO/Johanna Alarcón. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.

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 10.07 MB

Unique ID UF1ADOZ

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.