title=History

History of extension and the enabling environment

When Ecuador gained independence from the Gran Colombia in 1830, most of its population was rural, with the large land tenants (terratenientes) in the highlands exercising great influence, and the small tenants (peons) depending on them, both economically and socially. Similarly, owners of large cocoa plantations in the coastal areas enjoyed social, economic and political dominance.

During the 1920s

According to a 1928 document of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Government of Ecuador had not done much for developing agriculture and improving the life of rural people prior to 1924. In 1924, the government passed a law for the organization of agricultural and zoo-technical services. A General Board of Agriculture was formed under the Ministry of Public Instruction, Agriculture and Justice, which had jurisdiction over all the agricultural and zoo-technical institutions, such as agricultural schools, agricultural and zoo-technical experimental stations of the country. The Board had two divisions; one administrative and the other technical. The chief of the technical division was an agricultural graduate, who also served as technical advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture. As such, he was responsible for all operations of the technical division including agricultural and zoo-technical practices, experiments, demonstration fields, and protection of plants and animals against pests and diseases. The chief of the administrative division was responsible for studying and publishing methods of agricultural and zoo-technical accounting, giving instruction on good farm management, and disseminating and explaining agricultural and zoo-technical legislative regulations.

According to the law of 1924, the General Board of Agriculture was required to employ an agricultural expert, a zoo-technical expert, with one assistant for each, while the technical section at Guayaquil was to employ an agricultural and a zoo-technical expert. The staff of the Board were required to travel to any place in the country where their services were needed such as to give practical instruction, conduct studies, assist in the control of plant and animal diseases and pests, or deliver lectures on popular topics.

In 1927, the Ministry of Agriculture started an intensive course in agriculture for training agricultural experts to be employed as extension agents in provinces. Scholarships were provided for 15 young men, preferably natives, who were paid some allowance for the duration of the course. Men between 18 and 50 years of age, who had completed the course in tobacco raising or held a Bachelor’s degree and had passed the examination in general crop growing were also admitted. Free transportation was provided by the government between Quito and homes of the trainees. These men were given practical training in all kinds of farm labor on the farms, especially designated for this purpose.

During the 1960s

 In the 1950s, 1.2 per cent of the landowners holding 64 per cent of the agricultural land were categorized as large, while about 73.1 per cent of the landowners holding only 7.2 per cent of the agricultural land were classified as small. During the 1960s, the government established three important pillars for the development of agricultural sector: first, the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP – Instituto Nacional Autónomo de Investigaciones Agropecuarias), in 1963; second, the Ministry of Agriculture, in 1964; and third, a national system of agricultural credit.

In 1964, the government introduced the Law of Agrarian Reform and Colonization. Its objectives were to improve the conditions of small farmers and laborers, elimination of absentee landlords and unwarranted land tenure practice, re-distribution of land ownership, provision of agricultural extension services, and the inclusion of agricultural workers in the social security system. A new institution, the Ecuadorian Institute of Agrarian Reform and Settlement (IERAC - Instituto Ecuatoriano de Reforma Agraria y Colonizacion) was established to implement the reforms. Two of the key reform measures were the size of individual arable land ownership in the Sierra region restricted to 2,500 hectares and in the Costa region to 1,000 hectares; and, the minimum size of the individual landholding was to be 4.8 hectares. In the Oriente region, the land reforms affected about two million hectares of land.

Starting 1967, the economic standing of the agricultural sector rapidly declined due to the fact that most of the national and foreign investments were focused on exploiting the newly discovered oil fields. Especially during the 1970s, the Ecuadorians basked in the enormous income received from oil exports. Then, as the oil prices fell sharply during the early 1980s, Ecuador had to resort to structural adjustment.

During the 1990s

According to an FAO document of 1991, the public extension service in Ecuador had a classic top-down structure, focused on enhancing the productivity of certain commodities. An organizational unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock called Programa de Desarrollo Tecnologico Agropecuario (PDTA) provided the public extension services to the farmers. The PDTA was involved in research, extension, seed production and training, supposedly focusing on subsistence farmers.

In the mid-1990s, the government introduced a new law for agricultural development mainly directed at improved access to farm credit, and the provision of technical assistance including agricultural extension services to rural communities. The ongoing programs for commercialization of agricultural products (ENPROVIT) and grain storage (ENAC) were closed. Taxes on exporting agricultural commodities were eliminated while agricultural imports benefited from elimination of most quotas and the introduction of cuts in tariffs. Although the Ministry of Agriculture implemented crop specific programs containing components of agricultural extension, and also received technical assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the public extension services provided by the Ministry of Agriculture remained poor in general. 

PROMSA: In 1998, the government embarked upon modernizing the agricultural sector with the support of the World Bank and the IDB. An Agricultural Services Modernization Program (PROMSA - Programa de Modernizacion de los Servicios Agropecuarios) was launched. The program had three main components: (i) plant and animal health; (ii) technology generation; and (iii) technology transfer/extension. Under the technology transfer component (TTA), two targets set to be achieved by the end of first five years were, enhancement of agricultural production of main crops by 25 per cent, and reduction in post-harvest losses by 25 per cent. A competitive Science & Technology Fund (S&T Fund) was established under PROMSA in support of technology generation research.

The TTA component of the PROMSA aimed at replacing the traditional public agricultural extension services, operated by the Ministry of Agriculture, by a technology transfer market financed by both the government and the beneficiary farmers in which private service providers will compete for the provision of extension services. Basically, the new system was to be a combination of outsourcing, privatization and pluralism modalities. The general objective of the modernization of technology transfer services, under the TTA, was to enhance productivity and profitability of agricultural enterprises through participation of users in the process of technology innovation and entrepreneurial development.

A private consortium called PROUNID won the international bidding competition for implementation of the TTA component of PROMSA. The consortium comprised three partners namely PROEXANT (an organization that promotes non-traditional exports from Ecuador), University of Florida (a USA-based institution of higher learning), and Fundacion IDEA (a private Ecuadorian foundation that conducts studies and promotes agricultural strategies).

Main operational features of the TTA component of PROMSA, implemented until 2005, were as follows:    

1. Only those farmers were included in the program who owned good agricultural land with proper infrastructure including access to irrigation, had potential for entrepreneurship, but lacked access to modern technologies, and were willing and able to pay for extension services. As such, marginal and subsistence farmers were excluded from the program. Later, however, probably due to government budgetary issues, program activities focused mainly on small farmers. 
2. Farmers’ groups were expected to negotiate contracts for extensions services and costs involved directly with service providers, thus making the service providers accountable to the farmers. The Project Implementation Unit staff facilitated the process by identifying service providers, assessing their technical and management capacities, and preparing contracts to be signed by the farmers’ groups and the service providers.
3. In terms of financing, the government paid the service providers through the Project Implementation Unit certain percentage of the total cost through subsidies meant for farmers. The remaining amount of the contract was to be directly paid by the beneficiary farmers to the service providers.
4. Services were delivered by private extension agents (AATP). Each AATP was expected to serve in total 100 farmers who were divided into five homogenous groups of about 20 farmers each. Each group met on a specific date of every month on the farm of one of the members where, besides observing the host farmer’s farm, the assigned AATP led discussion on technologies, problems and innovations.
5. Extension methods used included field demonstrations, field days, observation tours, short training courses, seminars, publications, and radio broadcasts.
6. The scope of extension services covered production, post-harvest operations, marketing, price and market information system, establishment of linkages with input suppliers and produce buyers, legalization of group status, project formulation, procedures for access to credit, formation of savings cooperatives, setting up input stores, farm accounting, resource management, and other topics as needed.
7. According to a 2004 paper prepared by a faculty member of the University of Florida, one of the service providing consortium partners, the extension system was working well, and by early 2003, 114 organizations and 1,242 individual technical service providers had been registered with the Project Implementation Unit. Out of them, 31 service providers under contracts were providing services through 180 AATPs. Also, 21 of the service providers were categorized as small, having one to five AATPs, seven providers were of medium category, having six to 15 AATPs, and three service providers as large as having 16 or more AATPs. In total, the service providers were servicing more than 18,500 farmers divided into 835 groups. Over 90 per cent of the beneficiaries were paying their dues to the providers on regular basis. In addition, a survey found that all the beneficiaries were willing to pay about 33 percent more for technical services during the next year.
8. Sustainability of the new system could not be guaranteed after the end of the external funding runs out and/or government subsidies because small farmers may not be able or willing to pay for services from their own pocket. Also, the private service providers could lose interest in the program if the number of farmers demanding services declines drastically and if their staff costs become higher than the income.

2003 to present

In 2003, as soon as a new government came into power in Ecuador, it declared that instead of paid extension services, free public extension support will be provided to almost all the farmers by the renamed Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries. Accordingly, Ecuador returned to public extension services again in 2005. A National Plan for Good Living 2009-2013, and a Plan for Citizens’ Revolution 2007-2010 were prepared under the slogan of Buen Vivir (Good Living). The National Plan proposed changes in the agrarian structures with an aim to promote certain rural sectors, small fisheries and peasant family agriculture. These changes include the development of a new Participatory Technology Innovation and Agricultural Productivity Program, now being implemented by the Ministry, which is based on a new extension system termed as System of Participatory Agricultural Technological Innovation (SIPTA – Sistema de Innovación Tecnológica Participativa Agropecuaria). Under SIPTA, 956 Agrarian Revolution Schools (ERA) have been established in 23 provinces and the special region of Galapagos where 317 facilitators are serving about 21,531 producers including 12,293 men and 9,238 women.

Some of the international development agencies and bi-lateral donors which have funded projects and relevant activities to strengthen the agricultural sector of Ecuador are as follows:

• The World Bank (Agricultural Research Project; Agriculture Census and Information System Project).
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID) helping broccoli and cocoa growing small farmers in various areas of production and marketing; capacity building of farmer organizations; cattle production and dairy product quality improvement, etc.
• The World Food Program (WFP) helping hundreds of extremely poor families to access nutritious foods from small farmers.
• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) involved with Modernization of Agricultural Services Project; rural development, etc.
• Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) supporting agricultural research through the International Development Research Center.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at least 19 active projects addressing various aspects of agricultural sector.
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Buen Vivir Rural territorial Development Program; Ibarra-San Lorenzo Development Project in Northern Ecuador; Development Project for Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian Peoples (PRODEPINE).
• The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) In 2008, assisted 30 schools of agricultural sciences in the revision of their agricultural extension curricula, in the preparation of plans for establishing links with the community, and in updating their technology transfer and extension methodologies.
• Taiwan (Agricultural Production and Marketing Cooperation Project).

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title=Extension Providers

Major institutions providing extension/advisory services

Public Institutions

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries (MAGAP – Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería, Acuicultura y Pesca) 

The Ministry has overall responsibility for all aspects of the provision of public agricultural extension services to the Ecuadorian farmers. As mentioned earlier, the extension services are provided under SIPTA through the Agrarian Revolution Schools free of cost to the producers, in a gender sensitive manner. Although the Ministry has its own extension staff, several non-public and civil society institutions such as private sector, universities and NGOs are involved in the delivery of extension services. Extension services are also provided under externally funded rural and agricultural development projects.

National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP - Instituto Nacional Autónomo de Investigaciones Agropecuarias)
INIAP comprises seven experimental stations and eight research farms located in various regions of Ecuador. This autonomous institution has made important contributions to the national agricultural development through the generation, testing, adaptation and transfer of improved technologies. Also, INIAP was in the forefront in introducing the Farmer Field School (FFS) methodology in the country in collaboration with FAO, International Potato Center (CIP) and national institutions. Extension activities by INIAP are carried out through its National System of Technology Transfer (STDT), which has Technology Transfer Units (UTT) at the regional and/or provincial levels. These units are responsible, among other tasks, for developing and implementing transfer and diffusion plans through training of trainers. In 2012, INIAP entered into an agreement with South Korea to establish a Center for Korean Projects on International Agriculture (KOPIA) in Ecuador, which will provide training to agricultural extension workers, national researchers, and farmers. Ecuadorian extension workers will also go to South Korea on training visits.

Universities 

Universities are not engaged in direct provision of agricultural extension services. They are, however, important for extension as they prepare future professionals in agricultural sciences including agricultural extension. Universities are also involved in conducting field studies and offering short training courses for extension related people. The following universities in Ecuador that do have faculties of agriculture and forestry:

• Universidad Católica de Cuenca, located in Cuenca, Azuay.
• Universidad Particular de Loja, located in Loja, Loja.
• Universidad Tecnica de Ambato, located in Ambato, Tungurahua.
• Universidad de Guayaquil, located in Guayaquil, Guayas (also known as Universidad Agraria del Ecuador, i.e., Agricultural University of Ecuador).
• Universidad Politecnica Salesiana, located in Cuenca, Azuay which offers degree programs in agricultural development, biotechnology and natural resources.
• Universidad Tecnica de Manabí, located in Portoviejo, Manabí. 

Non-Public Institutions

Private sector

There are many national and international companies involved in commercial agricultural operations in Ecuador. A few examples are:

• Latinreco (Nestle), which covers cacao, coffee and quinoa business.
• Agripac (in seed production business).
• Transmar Group, Inc. A USA based cacao processing and exporting company doing business in Ecuador; operated its Dream Project in Ecuador under which about 500 farmers were assisted in establishing farmers’ organizations to collectively sell their cacao produce to Transmar for a premium and receive training to improve their production.
• Many sugar mills which covers sugarcane.
• Camari which deals with processed and packaged food items.
• Rio Guaycuyacu which specializes in seeds of tropical fruits and vegetables. 
• Sangay Tea which specializes in black and herbal teas.
• Yachana which specializes in organic cacao and tropical fruits.

No information is available on any extension activities undertaken by such companies. However, there are private consulting companies like ABORIS (Green Consultancy) www.arboris.ec that delivers extension services under contract.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

There is a significant number of NGOs involved in providing extension services or undertaking rural development and natural resources management type of activities, mostly under contracts with the government or external donor-funded projects. A few examples of national NGOs are as follows:

• AGEARTH Ecuador.
• CRACYP
• Fundacion Maquipucuna.
• Fundacion MCCH.
• Fundacion Ing. Agr. Juan Jose Castello.
• The Institute for Self Reliant Agriculture.
• Yanapuma Foundation.
• Ekorural.
• CRACYP (Rural Reforestation and Progress Network Corporation).
• Yachana Foundation.
• Golinas Verdes (Foundation for Conservation and Development).

There are many international NGOs active in development work. Examples are Plan International, CARE International, SWISSAID, and Groundswell International.

Farmers-based associations, cooperatives and societies

Several farmers’ associations and agricultural cooperatives are involved in the provision of extension services usually under contracts. Examples of a few associations and cooperatives are given below:

• Jambi Kiwa Company: a producers’ association that produces and sells medicinal herbs, tea and their products; extension services focus on innovation using farmer-to-farmer approach and the integration of ancestral knowledge.
• Ecuadorian Corporation of Coffee Growers (CORECAF –Corporacion Ecuatoriano de Cafeteros): CORECAF’s extension program covering more than 4,000 families in four coffee growing regions, operated in collaboration with NGOs and commercial associations; knowledge and participatory training methodologies followed.
• Ecuador Fairtrade Association: a group of seven flower farms in the Andes Mountains near Quito
• El Guabo: An association of small banana producers established in 1998 in southwest Ecuador; now a farmer-operated cooperative with 350 small-scale banana farmers.
• Federation of Ecological Coffee Producer Associations in the Southern region (FAPECAFES).
• La Asociación de Pequenos Productores Bananeros (APPBG) Ecuadorian Banana Fairtrade Association; one of the largest Fairtrade associations in the country’s rural El Oro region.
• Federation of Agriculture Centers and Peasant Organizations of Ecuador (FECAOL)
• FONMSOEAM (Federation of Black and Mestizos Small Scale Cacao Producers from Esmeralds, Atacames and Muisne).
• Zhucay Association members are cocoa farmers.
• Chachi Cocoa Farmers of Ecuador that focus on the preservation of natural resources especially forests.
• Organic Coffee Producers’ Association of Las Lajas (ACOLL).
• Fortaleza Valle (a farmers’ association in Carrizal Chone region).
• Cooperativa Regional de Servicios Agropecuarios.
• Kallari Cooperative comprises 850 families of Kicwha nation in Napo Province; grow only delicate heirloom varieties with organic certification.
• Coopera an agricultural services cooperative located in San Joaquin, a rural parish with a population of 5,000; founded in 2004 with organic production.
• Agraria Cocaotera del Valle  a cooperative established in 2005 with the aim of improving cocoa farmers’ living conditions.
• Cooperativa Regional de Servicios Agropecuarios (COORSA); A large cooperative formed by a farm inputs organization.

List of Extension Providers

 The following list shows an excerpt from the GFRAS Directory of Extension Providers for Ecuador. Some of these entries may be specially marked for having more detailed information in the database of the Worldwide Extension Study WWES.

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title=Training

Training options for extension professionals

Pre-service education in agricultural and rural social sciences including agricultural extension may be pursued at any Ecuadorian university that has faculties of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Some of these universities have been listed in an earlier section.  For in-service training, extension professionals could benefit from regularly offered short training courses or could arrange specific, need-based training at the following institutions in Ecuador:

• Universities with faculties of agriculture, identified in an earlier section.
• National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP), and its affiliated institutions.
• NGOs, such as Colinas Verdes (Foundation for Conservation and Development), which operate training programs.
• Under any externally funded project with component of capacity building of nationals (for example, Agricultural and Marketing Cooperation Project, funded by Taiwan).

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title=ICT

Info-mediaries and information and communication technology (ict) for agriculture and extension

The National Council of Telecommunications (CONATEL) is the key public institution responsible for handling ITC matters in Ecuador. According to government reports, Ecuador Digital Strategy 2.0 has been showing good results. During the last seven years, close to $15 billion have been invested in technology infrastructure, hardware, software and digital education in all 23 provinces of the country. However, socio-economic impact of the investment is still to be analyzed and evaluated because till 2008, the rate of access to ICTs in Ecuador was said to be one of the lowest in the region. Also, the Telecommunications Development Fund (FODETEL), which is responsible for promoting access to connectivity in rural areas, has not been able to fully implement its work plans due to a lack of available funds. Several projects involving the installation of telecenters have been delayed.  According to the World Bank, in 2012, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) in Ecuador was 110.70. During the same year, the number of Internet users (per 100 people) in the country was 35.13.

A few examples of ICT initiatives taken in Ecuador are as follows:

• The program for Land and Water Management of the University of Cuenca is being executed by an interdisciplinary team of local engineers, economists, sociologists, and foreign experts.
• The Center for Agricultural Computer Science was established in 1994 at the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering of the National University of Loja. The goal was to introduce computer science in the fields of agronomy, irrigation and forestry at university level and also in local private and public organizations.
• Since 2008, with the support of UN Women, the NGO “AMJUPRE” has been training more than 300 women leaders in rural areas of Ecuador. Rural women are taught to lose their fear of technology and to use it to fully benefit their lives.
• Under an IICD project, the quality of teaching and learning processes is being improved through ICT in six Millennium and five satellite schools nationwide and 40 schools in Manabí.
• The Ecuadorian Banana Fairtrade Association has been receiving computers and necessary training from Computer Aid with the aim of improving farmers’ access to the marketplace and improving IT literacy to boost rural livelihoods.

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title=Resources

Resources and references

Blare, T. and P. Useche (no date; probably 2012). The Impact of the Dream Project on Communities, Women, and the Environment in Ecuador. Published in MEAS (USAID project; Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services) Newsletter. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois.

Buck, S. and J. Alwang. 2010. Agricultural Extension, Trust and Learning: Results from Economic Experiments in Ecuador. Berkley, California: Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of California.

Carrion, H. (no date; probably 2012). Ecuador. www.imaginar.org.

Dow, K. 2004. Ecuador: New Approach to Agricultural Extension; in W. Rivera and G. Alex (eds.) Volume 2. Privatization of Extension Systems: Case Studies of International Initiatives; published by the World Bank and USAID.

Fuchs, S. 2011. Return to Pachamama? The Diffusion of Organic Agriculture in Ecuador. Unpublished Bachelor’s thesis submitted to Brown University.

Keese, J.R. 2001. International NGOs and sustainable agricultural development: A methodological analysis with examples from highland Ecuador. Ecuadorian Studies/Estudios Ecuatoriano No. 1 (September 2001) [no numbered pages].

Korovkin, T. 2005. Creating a social wasteland? Non-traditional agricultural exports and rural poverty in Ecuador. Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe 79, October de 2005; Pp. 47-67.

Morales, C.  1998. National Agricultural Research Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: Changes and Challenges. Serie Desarrollo Productivo 52. Santiago, Chile: Division of Production, Productivity and Management, United Nations.

Rajalahti, R., J. Woelcke and E. Pehu. 2005. Monitoring and Evaluation for World Bank Agricultural Research and Extension Projects: A Good Practice Note. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Schwartz, L.1994. The Role of the Private Sector in Agricultural Extension: Economic Analysis and Case Studies. Network Paper 48. London: The Overseas Development Administration (ODA).

Seligson, M.A.1986. Small Farmer Coffee Cooperatives in Ecuador: A Profile of Socioeconomic Conditions and Technical Capacity. Report submitted to the United States Agency for International Development, Quito, Ecuador.

Stedman, J.M. 1928. Foreign Agricultural Extension Activities: Ecuador, Brazil, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and India. Extension Service Circular 67. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture, Extension Service.

United Nations Environment Program (no date). The Banana Sector in Ecuador.

University of Texas (no date). Ecuador: A Case Study; how have humans changed their environment? PowerPoint presentation.

Valenzuela, E., S. Wong, and D. Sandri (no date; probably 2005). Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Ecuador. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Wendt, J. 2003. Management of appropriate agricultural biotechnology for small producers: case study – Ecuador. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, Vol.6, No. 1, Issue of April 15, 2003.

World Bank. 2006. Institutional Innovation in Agricultural Research and Extension Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. Agriculture and Rural Development Unit, Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Department.

WREN media. 2012. Country profile – Ecuador. New Agriculturist.

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title=More

More 

Success Stories

of projects that work with small holder farmers, include agricultural production and business skills training, build social capital, are farmer led and market oriented:

ACDI/VOCA Ecuador: 

• Promoting increased cocoa production for Ecuadorian farmers 

USAID Ecuador

• Nurturing Entrepreneurship in an Indigeneous Community
• Improving markets for small farmers
• Ecuadorian Jungle Chocolate: A Tale of Taste and Hope
• Small Farmers Become Microentrepreneurs 

The Role of the Agricultural Sector 

IICA Annual Report 2009

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title=Feedback ?

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