08 March 2025, Ecuador: This edition of our Seed Heroes series is about the Women’s Committee of UNORCAC in Ecuador, who safeguard crop diversity, promote food sovereignty, and empower their communities through the chakra andina farming system and innovative conservation efforts.
In the lush valleys in the shadow of Ecuador’s majestic Cotacachi volcano, called Mama Cotacachi by local people, a group of Indigenous women safeguards seeds, and the heritage of their ancestors. Founded in 1996, the Women’s Committee of the Unión de Organizaciones Campesinas e Indígenas de Cotacachi (UNORCAC) represents 500 women across 23 communities. They are our second Seed Heroes of 2025.
Though key partners in the efforts of the Crop Trust’s Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development (BOLD) project to strengthen the area’s seed system and its link to genebanks, the committee’s mission goes well beyond seeds. They tackle everything from food sovereignty to gender equality, to cultural preservation, and the rights of Cotacachi Indigenous Peoples.
One member of the Women’s Committee summed it up by saying, “For us, seeds are more than just crops—they are the heritage of our communities, something deeply valuable. We consider them a legacy.”
The Chakra: Our Medicine, Our Culture, Our Future
At the heart of the Women’s Committee’s work is the Andean Chakra, which in 2023 was recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS).
The chakra andina is an ancient and unique farming system that combines trees, field crops and medicinal plants. For the Indigenous Kichwa communities of Cotacachi, it is not just the source of their food and seeds, it is part of their identity, and what keeps alive cultural practices, traditional agricultural knowledge and festive celebrations. This ancient conservation system makes Cotacachi one of Ecuador’s most agrobiodiverse areas, hosting 12 of the country’s 27 maize varieties and nearly 40 local varieties of beans.
“Seeds are our medicine, our culture, our future,” says a Chakramama, or mother of the chakra. Magdalena Laine is a passionate guardian of diversity, with her home’s seed bank boasting 12 varieties of maize and at least 29 varieties of beans.
“Our chakras embody our identity and spirituality,” says María Piñan, a member of the Women’s Committee of UNORCAC. “Women play a key role here. We know the rhythms of the sun and moon and decide what gets planted, how and when.”
Conservation in the Chakra
“Their strength is this collective action, a strong organizational base to provide a platform to do things together,” shares Sarah Paule Dalle, seed systems expert with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). “In Cotacachi, conservation is a goal of many farmers, especially women, for whom it is important to maintain their traditional varieties.”
Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, yet rooted in nature, the Women’s Committee both conserves crop diversity and ensures it is available to anyone who wants it, contributing to economic empowerment.
At La Pachamama Nos Alimenta, an agroecological fair held every Sunday at the UNORCAC headquarters, over 300 women sell produce from their chakras. They offer fresh food and also small seed samples to interested buyers. Their ventures include Sumak Mikuy, a company which produces dehydrated foods used by Ecuador’s highest-quality chocolate companies, and Sara Mama, a business that revives the ancestral maize beer, chicha de jora.
“This allows women to step into public spaces, manage household finances, and strengthen their voices,” María points out. For many, these initiatives are about more than income. They are about ensuring that traditional food systems remain alive and valued.
Celebrating Crop Diversity
Working closely with INIAP’s genebank and others, the Women’s Committee has a long agenda. Maria lists their goals: “Conservation of our seeds, protection and reaffirmation of ancestral knowledge linked to the chakra andina, sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, education and awareness-raising, and advocacy in public policy.”
One of their biggest achievements – a vibrant seed-exchange fair that attracts thousands – has been going strong for two decades now. It started small but is now a crowded, bustling event, the Muyu Raymi seed fair in Cotacachi every August. It has many supporters, from local municipalities to the Norwegian government through the BOLD project. In 2024, over 500 farmers displayed their seeds at Muyu Raymi.
“We have been holding the Muyu Raymi for 22 years, but it started on a small scale, almost as a fun activity among the women,” shares a member of the Committee. “It was just about sharing. I have this seed, what do you have? And bringing different seeds to see what varieties we had. It began as something casual and enjoyable, but over time it grew bigger and bigger. ”.
“Now, as women, we see ourselves as seed guardians. INIAP’s genebank has played a significant role in supporting us in this, especially in teaching us how to conserve seeds properly,” she continues, warming to her subject.
Wanted: Alive!
The women’s partnership with Ecuador’s national genebank, DENAREF, bridges traditional conservation methods with modern scientific approaches to ensure that no seed variety is lost.
“The women recognize the genebank’s role. We can retrieve seeds that farms may have lost. It’s mutual respect and understanding,” says Álvaro Monteros, curator of the collection at DENAREF.
To protect crops at risk of extinction, the women use lots of different strategies, including competitions that reward the farmers with the highest crop diversity, or the most beautiful maize cobs, or indeed the widest variety of traditional dishes using native crops.
A particularly creative campaign was inspired by the ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’ posters so redolent of the Old West. The initiative raised awareness of rare and disappearing crops, encouraging communities to identify and preserve them. “It was a fun way to mobilize people and protect our agricultural heritage,” shares César Tapia, Director of INIAP’s genebank.
A BOLD Approach to Diversity in Seed Systems
In 2021, the BOLD project chose Cotacachi as a key site to study the connection between the seed system and the national genebank, led by NMBU. Cotacachi’s strong track record in conserving and distributing crop diversity makes it an ideal case for studying the genebank’s integration with community-based conservation activities.
Sarah Dalle explains, “Initially, we examined how the seed system-genebank link functions, and its challenges. Changing diets, especially among younger generations, led to reduced cultivation of crops like miso, sambo, zapallo, and native maize varieties such as Maíz Negro, Canguil, and Iritíco, which were replaced by commercial yellow maize.”
A collaboration between the Women’s Committee, the Universidad Técnica del Norte, INIAP’s genebank, and national breeders successfully reintroduced Canguil negro, a black popping maize that was at one time nearly lost. Local farmers donated seeds through the “Wanted” campaign, but poor popping quality required the intervention of breeders. The maize was later offered at a seed fair, a testament to the success of these efforts.
Looking ahead, BOLD aims to strengthen collaboration among farmers, genebanks, and researchers. Pest and disease challenges, as well as seed adaptation issues, remain concerns. “While seed fairs are inspiring—Muyu Raymi blew me away—there’s potential to improve seed information sharing,” Dalle notes. “Our focus in 2025 and beyond is combining conservation with production and marketing.”
Sowing Seeds of Hope for the Future
Safeguarding crop diversity is a pretty big task in itself, but it’s only the beginning. Then come ensuring the use and appreciation of the diversity.
Recognizing this challenge, the Women’s Committee engages young people in chakra andina farming, encouraging them to continue maintaining this ancestral agricultural system and the crops within it.
César Tapia welcomes this effort. “One of the most rewarding experiences in this collaborative journey has been the educational program on agrobiodiversity we present in rural schools in Cotacachi. Seeing the children’s pride in their region’s crops and hearing them tell their parents how valuable these seeds are was incredibly moving,” he said. “It gives a sense of hope for the future, knowing that the next generation understands the importance of preserving these agricultural treasures as a lasting heritage.”
“Just like a small maize plant needs nurturing to grow from a seed, we must nurture our youth and pass down our knowledge,” adds María Piñan.
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