FAO Digital Media Hub - ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony

Hide details

Tags

Farmers

Women

Explore More Collections

Alternative Versions

Conceptually similar

ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony

ECUADOR, 2025. Carmen is co-founder of the Central Women’s Committee of the Union of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Cotacachi (UNORCAC)

ECUADOR, 2025. Alexandra is a member of the women producers' organization,

ECUADOR, 2025. Harvesting goldenberries

ECUADOR, 2025. FAO Goodwill Ambassador Rodrigo Pacheco with Women’s Committee member, Luz María

Similar tones

View images with similar tones

Add to collection

Download

ECUADOR, 2025. Women farmers participate in ancestral harvest gratitude ceremony

08 July 2025. Cuicocha, Ecuador. Kichwa women from the Ancestral Health Committee of UNORCAC (Union of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Cotacachi) perform an ancestral Andean ceremony at Cuicocha Lagoon to give thanks to the Earth—Pachamama—for the harvest of their food.

07/08/2025

Country or Territory Ecuador

Related URL Related FAO Feature Story: https://www.fao.org/newsroom/story/secrets-of-the-andean-chakras/en

File size 12.48 MB

Unique ID UF1ADQK

Editorial use only. Photo credit must be given. For further information contact: Photo-Library@fao.org

Background Information Kichwa women and their ancestral agricultural knowledge have sustained food security in Ecuador’s highlands for centuries. Their farms, known as chakra, were recognized in 2023 by FAO as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). Indigenous women like Magdalena are seed guardians, preserving native maize varieties and passing this knowledge to her daughter Verónica.

Climate change-related droughts, floods and pests threaten this system, but with FAO’s support, organizations like UNORCAC work with Kichwa communities to strengthen resilience through the use and exchange of native seeds.