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7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: UNION OF FARMER AND INDIGENOUS ORGANIZATIONS OF COTACACHI, Ecuador
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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
Ecuador
UNION OF FARMERAND INDIGENOUSORGANIZATIONS OFCOTACACHI (UNORCAC)
Empowered live
Resilient nation
Empowered live
Resilient nation
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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo
or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth
their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition
themselves guiding the narrative.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser
that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ
to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models
replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years
the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.
Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.
EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran
Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe
Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,
Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu
DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Parra, Brandon Payn
Mariajos Satizbal G.
AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Union o Farmer and Indigenous Organizations o Cotacachi (UNORCAC), and
particular the guidance and inputs o Rumiahui Anrango and Martha Arotingo. All photo credits courtesy o UNORCAC. Maps court
o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.
Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Union o Farmer and Indigenous Organizations o Cotacachi (UNORCAC), Ecuador. Equa
Initiative Case Study Series. New York, NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdf7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: UNION OF FARMER AND INDIGENOUS ORGANIZATIONS OF COTACACHI, Ecuador
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PROJECT SUMMARYThe remote communities o Ecuadors inter-Andean valleyshave long aced the twin challenges o ood insecurityand environmental degradation. Malnutrition aectsapproximately 40 per cent o the regions population,and armers receive limited technological and economicsupport rom ormal institutions. The Union o Farmer andIndigenous Organizations o Cotacachi was ounded toaddress these challenges and turn the relative abundanceo rare native crop and ruit species to the advantage oarming communities.
By conserving o a wide variety o native, tuber, root,ruit, cereal and medicinal plant species, the initiativehas improved diversity o income and nutrition sourcesor 3,225 arming amilies. In addition the initiative hasdeveloped value-added processing o local varieties, andagro-tourism.
KEY FACTS
EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2008
FOUNDED: 2002
LOCATION: Inter-Andean valleys of northern Ecuador
BENEFICIARIES: 3,225 families
BIODIVERSITY: Agricultural biodiversity
3
UNION OF FARMER AND INDIGENOUSORGANIZATIONS OF COTACACHI (UNORCAC)Ecuador
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and Context 4
Key Activities and Innovations 6
Biodiversity Impacts 8
Socioeconomic Impacts 9
Policy Impacts 10
Partners 11
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he Union o Farmer and Indigenous Organizations o CotacachiUnin de Organizaciones Campesinas e Indgenas de Cotacachi -
UNORCAC) brings together local producers, agricultural researchers,
nd national and international development agencies to promote
ustainable rural development in the inter-Andean valleys o Ecuador.
he organisation has encouraged the conservation and sustainable
se o genetic plant resources through the reintroduction and
reservation o native crop varieties.
Agricultural biodiversity (or agro-biodiversity) is a undamental
omponent o ood security or the worlds poorest rural communities
nd plays a key role in making arming systems more stable, resilient,
nd sustainable. Agricultural biodiversity includes all cultivatedrop species and their related wild species, as well as species o
omesticated animals, insects and other pollinators, and strains o
microorganisms that are used either directly or indirectly or ood
nd agriculture. It also encompasses the ull range o associated
cosystems in which agriculture takes place, as well as habitats and
pecies outside o agricultural systems that generate benets to
griculture and contribute to the unctioning o ecosystems.
Environmental decline and ood security
arming communities in Ecuador have long aced the twin
hallenges o ood insecurity and environmental degradation.
ood production or subsistence livelihoods and cash income hasten been prioritized at the expense o biodiversity, water quality,
arbon xation capacity, and land resources in general. Over time,
ver-exploitation o natural resources has decreased agricultural
roductivity, making it more dicult or the rural producers to meet
ven basic ood security needs. These challenges are particularly
evere in the inter-Andean region o Ecuador, which accounts or
4% o the countrys landmass, comprising approximately 67,000
m2. The region is densely populated, home to approximately 46% o
he national population (4.5 million), and poverty is rie. Malnutrition
ects approximately 40% o the population. Farmers in this region
have received limited technological and economic support
ormal institutions, with these eorts proving insucient bo
terms o improving agricultural productivity and in meeting
demands o local and oreign markets.
Crop diversity and local livelihoods in Cotacachi
Farmers living in the oothills o the Cotacachi Volcano have m
their living or centuries by cultivating small plots o land w
diverse assortment o native crops, many o which are little-kn
outside the Andes. The Cotacachi communities are located w
one o the worlds primary centers o crop domestication. C
grown here include numerous local maize varieties; Andean roottubers such as oca, mashua, melloco, and arracacha; pseudo-ce
such as quinoa and amaranth; tropical ruits such as tree toma
ground cherries, passion ruits, highland papayas and giant An
blackberries; native grain legumes including lupines, lima b
common beans and scarlet runner beans; highland squashes
as the g-leaed gourd and the slipper gourd; and several vari
o hot peppers. Local armers also maintain ancestral knowle
about the special properties and uses o these crops. Ater satis
their amilys own needs, armers take any surplus produce to
markets; prices are oten so low, however, that they do not c
the transportation costs. The low status oten associated with n
oods in urban markets, and environmental changes in re
decades have led to increasing abandonment o these diverse cresulting in the overall erosion o agricultural biodiversity.
Poverty reduction through conserving agro-biodiversity
The Union o Farmer and Indigenous Organizations o Cota
(UNORCAC) was ormed to resolve this dilemma and prom
a selection o native crops that are considered orgotten,
have received little attention rom the scientic and agricul
community. The project is designed to contribute to sustain
rural development in a pilot area within the arming valley
Background and Context
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55
he inter-Andean region. UNORCACs primary objective is to
mprove living conditions through poverty reduction based on the
onservation o agro-biodiversity.
ince its inception in 2002, the initiative has reached 3,225 amilies.
Many o these amilies are rom the indigenous Quichua (Kichwa)
eople, common to the Andean regions o Ecuador and Colombia,
nd numbering approximately 2.5 million. UNORCAC has achieved
ignicant poverty reduction results through the implementation
o projects with a distinctive approach it terms development
identity. The organisation believes that agricultural practices
incorporate technologies and management processes that en
an ecologically sound, cost-eective, and equitable distribu
o social benets. By creating new markets or native crop-b
products and by revitalizing indigenous knowledge and tradi
associated with local agro-biodiversity, the ethnic, cultural and s
value o native crops is recognized and reinorced.
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6
Key Activities and Innovations
n response to the genetic erosiono underutilized native crop
arieties in arming communities in the Andean valleys o northern
cuador, the UNORCAC initiative was launched in 2002. Over time,
he project has increasingly ocused on the application o scientic
nowledge and techniques, as refected in the title o the initial
project: Promotion o Andean crops or rural development in
cuador: Rescue, complementary conservation, and sustainable
se o inter-Andean genetic resources. The project has targeted
ural communities in the canton o Cotacachi, Imbabura province,
o increase their use o local varieties o native crops. To achieve
his goal, UNORCAC provides basic inormation and appropriate
echnologies to seven rural communities to build local capacity in
hree areas: agriculture, agro-tourism, and added-value processing.
he project activities are organized into our thematic components:
the complementary conservation o native crops, which involves
participatory research on local agro-biodiversity in coordination with
x-situ conservation initiatives; ii) artisanal ood products, and the
evelopment o new value-added products and markets to promote
gro-biodiversity; iii) agro-biodiversity education, which includes
nvironmental education and awareness-raising on the importance
o conserving agricultural biodiversity; and iv) agro-tourism.
Complementary conservation o native crops
Within the participatory research component o the initiative,onservation strategies include agro-biodiversity inventories,
alidation o common species names, restoring local varieties
nd related wild species, cataloguing traditional knowledge o
gricultural biodiversity, restoration o local varieties and native
rops, and the establishment o an ethno-botanical garden.
hese eorts represent a comprehensive approach to detailing
he areas genetic resources and traditional knowledge, creating
reserve o biological diversity and accumulated knowledge
on its ethno-botanical uses. In situ conservation o native crops
on-arm is being encouraged and complemented by the eorts
o the National Agricultural Research Institute (Instituto Nac
de Investagaciones Agropecuarias INIAP), which maintains
countrys ex situ germplasm collections. UNORCACs armer net
works closely with the agencys agricultural extension ocers
researchers to reintroduce and cultivate appropriate local varie
seed trading between armers then helps to spread the use o tvarieties more widely within the Cotacachi communities.
Value-added processing o native crops
This second area o activities has entailed the establishment
micro-enterprise called Sumak Mikuy (Great Food) which proce
and markets products based on native ood crops. This projec
prioritized our local varieties: blackberry, cape gooseberry (kn
locally as uvilla), pepper, and the g-lea gourd a type o sq
known locally as sambo (Cucurbita ciolia). The micro-enter
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7
s responsible or promoting the cultivation o these species and
heir varieties, and then using an artisanal process to add value
o cultivation practices. The project has instigated the ormation
producer and grower networks. UNORCAC has also overseen the
onstruction o a acility equipped to process these products,
nsuring that quality standards are met that meet local market
demands.
Processing o native crop varieties has also involved traditional
medicinal plants; UNORCAC producers use more than 130 typeso native plants in dierent orms and combinations based on
raditional knowledge o their medicinal properties. UNORCAC is
urrently working to establish a green pharmacy, which will process
medicinal plants by hand and expand their use within and outside
he Cotacachi communities.
Agro-biodiversity education
The promotion o native crop and medicinal plant varieties is
underpinned by UNORCACs extensive educational awareness-
aising outreach process. This component o the organizations
work is comprised o an education programme in agro-biodiversity
designed or teachers in local schools. UNORCAC engages teachers
hemselves in the development o an agro-biodiversity teachers
guide and teaching materials. This program has been incorporated
nto the ormal school curriculum. The organizations ethno-
botanical garden is being created to supplement this educational
work on the wealth o local agricultural biodiversity and its uses or
he communities.
A signicant ocus o UNORCACs awareness-raising work has b
on lowering levels o malnutrition. The organization has encour
increased diversity in diets by supporting market gardens with
varieties o crops, including roots, tubers, grains, vegetables
ruit. In addition, UNORCAC has also promoted nutritional educa
using popular education methods, such as theatre shows, eatu
actors rom community womens groups, and through comm
airs eaturing ancestral oods and recipes.
Agro-tourism
UNORCAC has seeks to develop sustainable income-genera
opportunities or arming households. In addition to the Su
Mikuy micro-enterprise, the organisation promotes bee-keepin
a livelihood activity that encourages the use o native vegetatio
producing Andean honey. It has also developed an agro-tou
enterprise that encourages tourists to learn about indige
communities culture, way o lie, agricultural practices, be
indigenous medicine, rituals, and cuisine. To this end, UNOR
has created a community-based tourism enterprise called Quic
Tupari Runa, with teen tourist accommodation acilities in
indigenous communities. Tourists are able to learn ance
agricultural practices, enjoy traditional meals, and purchase c
made using local materials and techniques. In 2010, the enter
received approximately 3,000 tourists; visitor numbers have gr
at a rate o 30% annually since its inception in 2002, when the
received around 800 visitors. The revenues generated are sh
between the enterprise, the owners o the lodgings, and
communities. An innovation that is being implemented is lod
or volunteers, which aims to welcome students and volun
to study and support UNORCACs conservation and developm
activities.
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8
Impacts
BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS
Loss o agricultural biodiversity, termed genetic erosion, occurs
when local varieties are lost, abandoned or replaced by other
species or by improved varieties. In many cases, the adoption o
agricultural systems that require agrochemicals, irrigation, and
improved varieties results in a reduction in the number o related
varieties grown. When local varieties are replaced by new cultivars,
genetic erosion occurs, because the new varieties introduced
do not carry the genetic diversity o local species, leading to a
diminishing gene pool that threatens the species with extinction.
The destruction o orests and other natural plant groupings also
causes genetic erosion, through the loss o wild species related tocultivated crops such as natural pollinators. This can also result in the
loss o wild edible species, which oten supplement rural household
diets, especially in times o crisis.
Traditional crop varieties are the result o many generations o natural
and human selection in armers elds, including seed exchange
within and between communities, mutations and genetic drit, and
the recombining o genes between varieties and their related wild
species. Traditionally, the use o two or more local varieties gives
armers greater security rom environmental hazards. Traditional
crop varieties may vary in their resistance to biotic actors (pests and
diseases), and to abiotic actors (drought, extreme temperatures,
salinity, etc.). Greater agricultural biological diversity among cropsthereore allows armers to produce crops successully in dierent
environmental conditions, thereby adapting to a changing climate.
This type o crop management also reduces the need or pesticides
or other expensive inputs, which in turn contributes to the welare
o the wider ecosystem through reduced pesticide runo into water
sources, or instance. Finally, crop diversity gives rural producers the
opportunity to select varieties to support their culinary and religious
traditions, along with other cultural values.
Improved resilience and adaptive capacity
A high degree o agricultural biodiversity is critical to bols
the resilience o rural producers in meeting social, economi
environmental threats. UNORCACs work to improve the
diversity o Cotacachis indigenous and local arming commu
has thereore substantially improved local resilience and adapt
to the challenges o a changing climate. Research carrie
within the target area has revealed the wealth o biodiversity
conserved, and in turn has demonstrated to armers the va
reintroducing native species.
Over 370 arm amilies were surveyed to determine the amoudistribution o crop diversity on-arm, as well as to understan
human and natural actors that contribute to the maintenan
this diversity. Data revealed that Cotacachi is home to a high d
o genetic variability in traditional crops. The predominant s
include maize, beans, sambo squash, and minor crops such a
tomato (Solanum betaceum), mora, or blackberry (Rubus gla
taxo, or banana passionruit (Passiforaspp.), achogcha (Cyclan
pedata), granadilla (Passifora ligularis), uvilla or cape goose
(Physalis peruviana), and varieties o pepper (Capsicum spp.). E
local varieties o maize were identied, as well as several va
o beans the most cultivated are yellow corn and mixturiad
matahambre beans, used mainly in fours and beverages, a
some cases, as medicine.
Seed banks, environmental education and armer netw
UNORCACs work in restoring crop diversity has employed
main techniques. Seeds o native varieties that had become
or lost were restored to participating communities rom I
germplasm bank. A communal plot o land or seed reprodu
was established in Cotacachi; dozens o traditional crop va
have been restored in this way. To date, this has involved pla
o 10,000 specimens o 15 crops, including root, tuber, grai
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ruit varieties. Samples o the current local varieties were collected
and deposited in the national germplasm bank, meanwhile, where
hey are characterized, evaluated and conserved ex situ under
ong-term storage conditions. Educational awareness conducted
hrough community airs has encouraged increased use o native
pecies, including corn, beans, achogcha, pepper, tomato, taxo, and
passion ruit, among others. Agro-tourism has also acted as a spur to
diversied crop use: agro-biodiversity has increased by 80% across
he tourist accommodation sites, with an average o 137 agricultural
pecies. Finally, the organisation has acilitated the exchange onative seeds within armer networks, resulting in increased crop
diversity in 500 household arms that had previously lost traditional
varieties o crops.
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
UNORCACs rural development eorts are based on the use o local
esources and on community empowerment; these eorts have
mproved the local quality o lie and contributed to agricultural
ustainability. Results have been achieved through close cooperation
with INIAP, bringing the benets o scientic research to those who
are most in need o it. For instance, armers with limited resources
have benetted rom the development o simple processingmethods and technologies that do not depend on external inputs,
as these technologies are typically expensive or inappropriate or
mall-scale agro-ecosystems.
Rural micro-enterprise development
The development o rural micro-enterprise initiatives that support
biodiversity conservation and income generation has played a key
ole in delivering tangible economic and social gains or Cotacachis
3,225 arming amilies. The Sumak Mikuy agribusiness has used
simple and locally-appropriate technologies to add value to n
crops based on traditional recipes. Products include An
Blackberry Marmalade (Rubus glaucus), Squash Seed Snack
Pepa de Sambo (Cucurbita ciolia), Spicy Pepper Pastes (Caps
spp.) and Dried Ground Uvilla Cherries (Physalis peruviana). T
products are packaged using natural bers and marketed to the
numbers o tourists visiting the Cotacachi area, nearby Otavalo
the capital city o Quito. The marketing strategy adds value to
products by telling the story o the native crops and the indige
armers who produce them.
Farmers are paid a premium price or high-quality produce,
any prots rom the business are reinvested into the commu
This enterprise involves approximately 130 local producers,
o whom are women. This exercise has been supplemented by
creation o an association o beekeepers who produce bee prod
rom native orests, including Andean honey, pollen, and propo
The implementation o agricultural plots has increased the ave
number o crops grown per household or consumption by
Coupled with the nutritional educational campaign or armers
agro-biodiversity education in ormal schools, purchases o
rom urban markets have decreased by 50%, improving local and generating household savings. In total, 1,284 amilies g
corn, 1,178 grow beans, 236 plant potatoes, 385 grow peas, and
grow quinoa.
The micro-entrepreneurial initiatives have greatly impr
household incomes: those engaged in tourism receive approxim
USD 120 per month; those in the agribusiness, USD 316 per mo
and those in beekeeping, USD 195 per month.
9
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ntercultural education and ecological clubs
n the process o raising awareness on the need to conserve agro-
iodiversity, UNORCAC has ormed an Association o Environmental
ducators comprising teachers rom nineteen local schools. These
chools are recognized by the state as Bilingual Intercultural
Community Education Centers (CECIBs) that cater to indigenous
Quichua communities, teaching in both Quichua and Spanish.
his recognition has made possible the development o a series actions and activities that have involved other teachers and
tudents, bringing agricultural education to a wide audience o
Quichua students. These students are also organized into ecological
lubs. Through this platorm, teachers and students have developed
chool-community liaison events, in which students share what
hey have learned about agro-biodiversity with parents and other
ommunity members. The integration o biodiversity conservation
nto the ormal curricula has been accomplished with the support
volunteer teachers and the provincial directorate o intercultural
ducation (DIPEIBI). Traditional community ood airs have also
aised awareness o the nutritional value o cultural oods, and have
howcased a compilation o 26 traditional meal recipes.
mproved incomes rom agro-tourism
he Runa Tupari tourism initiative allows oreign tourists to explore
ndigenous communities experience rst-hand the lives o armers
nd their relationship with local agricultural biodiversity, agricultural
ractices, ood, medicine and indigenous rituals. Agro-tourism
as been successully developed as a complementary activity to
gricultural work that encourages conservation o agricultural
iodiversity and knowledge related to it while simultaneously
enerating additional income or the amilies involved. Families
eceiving visitors have enriched their gardens agro-biodiversity and
re able to communicate its cultural and natural wealth, providing
n authentic intercultural shared lie experience or visitors. While
ourism provides average revenues o USD 130 per month or those
amilies involved in hosting visitors, the most valuable aspect o this
ctivity has proven to be the process o improving the sel-esteem o
amily members (particularly women) and supporting a revaluation
cultural identity and o the elements associated with it, including
ative crops.
ive communities currently provide accommodation or tourists; to
ate, 25 community members have been licensed as guides by the
Ministry o Tourism. New groups have also ormed to complement
isitors experiences, including music and dance groups, and crat
ssociations, adding to the holistic presentation o indigenousulture. There is also increased awareness o the need to improve
waste management in the communities. The Agro-Culinary Guide
o Cotacachi, meanwhile, is a small book written to help inorm
isitors about the native crops o the region, the importance o agro-
iodiversity, and the estivals that celebrate the agricultural cycle,
entral to the lives o these communities.
Awareness-raising eorts and the development o agro-tourism have
ad a signicant empowering eect on the Cotacachi communities.
A key actor or the conservation o traditional plant varieties in rural
communities is the socio-cultural importance that such vari
have, including the ancestral knowledge associated with gro
and using them. Raising awareness o the importance o a
biodiversity has increased both the perceived value o, and pop
support or, conservation. Farming communities are now see
key actors in the conservation and use o the genetic resourc
underutilized crops.
POLICY IMPACTS
UNORCAC has received support rom various government minis
and agencies, and in return has helped to inorm policie
community-based agriculture, culture, tourism, and indige
education. Important partners to the initiative have included
National Institute o Agricultural Research (Instituto Naciona
Investagaciones Agropecuarias INIAP) and the provincial directo
o intercultural education (DIPEIBI). Through the Assembl
Cantonal Units o Cotacachi, UNORCAC has also been ab
infuence the development o local government policy. As pa
the National Federation o Peasant and Indigenous Organizat
meanwhile, UNORCAC has been part o eorts to infuence nat
policies relating to rural ood security. The group has also m
contact with the Ministry o Cultural and Natural Heritage to ina process or the UNORCAC territory to be considered an a
biodiversity and traditional knowledge reserve.
10
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11
Partners
UNORCAC acts as a community-based organisation that coordinates
network o producers, womens groups, indigenous educators,
nd volunteers. Its armer network works closely with national
nd international researchers to adapt scientic research and
echnologies to meet local needs. Eventually, UNORCAC hopes to
pread this model to other communities and regions o the country;
o date, it has been used as a case study or similar groups in Peru.
Government partners include the National Institute o Agricultural
esearch (Instituto Nacional de Investagaciones Agropecuarias
NIAP) and DIPEIBI (Direccin Provincial de Educacin Intercultural).
he project received substantial unding rom 2002-2008 rom
he Food or Progress programme o the U.S. Department oAgriculture (USDA) in collaboration with Biodiversity International,
s well as technical assistance rom UCODEP (Unity and Cooperation
or Development o Peoples, an Italian-based NGO), CORPEI (La
Corporacin de Promocin de Exportaciones, a private, not-or-
rot organization that promotes Ecuadorian exports and Foreign
Direct Investment in Ecuador) and FOMRENA (El Fondo Regional de
Tecnologas Apropiadas en Manejo Sostenible de Recursos Naturales).
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FURTHER REFERENCE
Union o Farmer and Indigenous Organizations o Cotacachi (UNORCAC) websitehttp://www.unorcac.org/
Video on UNORCAC, 2008 (Dailymotion)http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x74d6_unorcac_news
Video on UNORCAC, 2010 (YouTube)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE3rh67skFs
Equator Initiative
Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1 646 781 4023
www.equatorinitiative.org
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change and
necting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.
The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati
o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.
2012 by Equator Initiative
All rights reserved
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