Alan Adams
I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in this area of the Andes is southern Ecuador in the 1960s. In 2013 the community imvited me to work with the on finding financial and technical assistance for their agricultural association. We are working to improve seeds, soils, agro diversity, and marketing. We are addressing climate change, malnutrition, emigration, and research needs. The association has a nutrition education program in the schools, a new processing plant, and is organizing women’s farming associations in various communities in the area. We have expanded quinua, amaranth, potato, and barley varieties and are embarking on commercial agave cultivation. The women’s farming associations are formed because many men have emigrated looking for wage labor. These groups address all of the issues mentioned above plus labor shortages. They will help create an economic situation where emigration becomes less necessary. These groups include training in agriculture and marketing as well as organization. They work together on each other’s plots and decide democratically how to plant, harvest, and sell. Currently, we are seeking participatory research as the associations progress to provide feedback for improvement and models for replication in other communities.