Sustainable Agriculture with Gender Inclusion and Participation in Quito I Ecuador
In Quito, Ecuador, nature and sustainability are treated as an integral component of development
rather than as an afterthought. Green infrastructure and nature-based solutions are key to the
City´s mitigation and adaptation strategies for securing the provision of ecosystem services.
One such solution is the project Sustainable Agriculture with Gender Inclusion and Participation in
Quito, which is run by the city to improve food security, urban agro-ecology, climate change
adaptation, and nutrition.
The program has been working together with women and female-headed households for over a decade to
improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable people of the Metropolitan District of Quito.
Thanks to training courses, technical assistance, and support resources, the program has helped
thousands of residents to start their own urban gardens and apply sustainable practices to make
positive changes in their lives. Furthermore, it contributes to carbon emission reductions, is an
adaptation response to climate change, as well as generating citizen participation and solidarity
within local economic development.
Key facts
352,600 people benefit from the program; comprising 56,000 urban farmers, 85.71% of which are
women, and 170,000 consumers;
Women represent 85.71% of the participants;
Since the start of the project, 16,700 participants have been trained, 2,500 urban gardens
opened, and 110 urban agriculture startups promoted with 105 different food products.
People who live in Quito, women in particular, have limited access to formal education and, employment.
They also face barriers in gaining access to land, water, labor, capital, technology, and other resources.
According to a study of vulnerability to climate change in Quito the impacts of extreme rainfall events and
change in temperature will likely impact the most vulnerable ecosystems, sectors, and social groups. It is
expected that by 2050, five sectors will be more vulnerable to climate change: water, health, agriculture,
ecosystems and risks (forest fires).
The solution
The project promotes and validates alternative and sustainable land management approaches through the
implementation of climate change adaptation actions. It also ensures food and nutrition security and
universal health access, which are essential for poverty eradication and climate resilient sustainable
development. The project fosters sustainable and safe agricultural production and agri-business, with a focus
on micro-enterprise management and access to different markets. Additionally, it improves participants’
earnings by generating jobs, as well as helping them to save money by consuming their own products.
The program has become a "seedbed" of agricultural micro-business, such as the production of
organic vegetables, fruits, crops, medicinal and ornamental plants, animal husbandry, beekeeping, and food
processing. A gender-responsive and human rights approach is crucial to strengthening technical capacities
of urban and peri-urban farmers and the formation of human capital. Gardens and small farms play an
essential role in the lives of the participants. By strengthening rural and urban linkages, it promotes the
understanding of the importance of ecosystem services to provide a sustainable life in urban areas.
Helping the planet
While native ecosystems represent 60% of the territory of the Municipal District of Quito, accelerated
growth of urban sprawl exerts strong pressure on native ecosystems, vegetation cover, and land-use. This
project, by promoting sustainable practice in agriculture and the use of vacant land for the growth of food,
is protecting the City´s natural surroundings and forests, pursuing joint environmental governance,
sustainable land management, and integrated human development.
Replacing chemical fertilizers with organic waste has had beneficial effects on both emission reductions
and city waste management. Production of seasonal crops and promoting local consumption has also helped to
reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions. Work on the project is fostering resilience by recovering
degraded ecosystems and thus increasing biodiversity levels, promoting sustainable use of resources, and
the revaluation of urban land for food production.
Helping people
Climate is responsible for 30 % of productivity variations globally. Extreme weather or changes in
rainfall and temperature can result in crop damage, which impacts farmers’ incomes and food security.
Also, unsustainable agricultural practices can lead to high greenhouse gas emissions, reductions in soil
fertility, loss of water retention capacity, and eventual soil erosion. Innovative solutions to understand
and utilize climate information are helping farmers in Colombia and Honduras adapt their practices to climate
variability and change and making more efficient use of water and agrochemicals.
Women play a central role in the programme and make up most of the urban producers involved in the
programme. Women, who are often excluded from decision-making, have gained the opportunity to become
leaders and members of the new groups of urban farmers and have joined forces to share best practices and
lessons learned.
The activity has also had a positive role by building capacity, marketing and production skills, and
providing secure and independent income sources for women. Working in urban agriculture allows women to
combine agricultural activity with their daily responsibilities. The project is strengthening the economic
development of the vulnerable urban and peri-urban population rural communities closest to the natural
areas that are currently being managed, by increasing access and opportunity to begin sustainable
agriculture activities. The goal is to offer communities and mainly woman alternative and more sustainable
sources of livelihood.
Spillover effect
This project has the potential to grow and increase its beneficiaries, as it has become mainstreamed in
several institutions and activities related to public policy, including the environmental policies of
sustainable resource management, carbon footprint reduction, and increased resilience and adaptation capacity
of the city. Considering that almost 90% of the Metropolitan District of Quito is rural, components of the
project, such as the promotion of organic agriculture are already being replicated in rural areas of the City
and would be replicable in other cities with urban areas.
Through their experiences, all stakeholders involved in the project share lessons learned and their best
practices with other local governments and national institutions. The project, as well as the Municipal
institutions involved in promoting sustainable agriculture, such as CONQUITO and the Secretariat of the
Environment, have created a space for the methodological transfer of a successful implementation of the
project to other local and provincial governments, as well as to economic development agencies interested
in promoting sustainable agriculture in their territories. Replication is further facilitated through the
availability of easily accessible and low cost techniques that focus on the reuse and recycling of
materials, less dependence on external inputs, and motivated by the principles of healthy agriculture and
empowerment of participants, especially women.
Images owned by the activity partners, all rights reserved.
