Abstract

S1-03  

Cassava Processing in Dry Coastal Areas of Ecuador

Caballero H.

This poster describes work representing 16 years of collaboration between several research and development institutions and cassava farmers.  From 1985 to 1998 several organizations such as the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Foundation for Agricultural Development (FUNDAGRO), the Ministry for Agriculture and Livestock in Ecuador (MAG), Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) and the Technical University of Manabí, joined efforts to support cassava farmers in the Ecuadorian Province of Manabí. This resulted in the creation and development of 18 Associations of Cassava Producers and Processors and one Union, the UATAPPY, which encompassed all these associations.  After the projects of the mentioned organizations ended, the farmer’s organizations have weakened over the years.  Among others, a catastrophic El Niño event in 1998 destroyed most of the cultivated large areas of cassava cultivation.  Moreover, cassava farmers were affected by market dynamics that favored other cash crops, while the prices of cassava decreased.  At the organizational level, internal leadership problems among the association members also contributed to weakening farmer’s organizations.  In this context, the CBN initiated a Food Security Project in 1998 as an effort to support cassava producers.  The activities of CBN were directed at assisting farmers by providing equipment, reintroducing lost cassava varieties, rescuing traditional knowledge and facilitating commercial exchange among farmers.  Presently, the CBN is executing a diagnostic study with the aim to determine the relation between cassava production and social dynamics in Ecuador.  The objective in this case is to support cassava farmers on the basis on their own needs and priorities.