Ecuador

Ecuador

What is the local context of Ecuador and how can we address it?

Deforestation

From 2002 to 2022, Ecuador lost 954 kha of tree cover, the equivalent of a 5% decrease in tree cover since 2000, with shifting agriculture being the main deforestation driver. 

Local context

The European Union is one of the main export markets for Ecuadorian agricultural, agro-industrial and timber products.

Biodiversity

51.2% of the continental territory of Ecuador is covered by native forests, of which 74% is in the Amazon region.

Agriculture

The agricultural sector in Ecuador consists mainly of smallholder farmers, who now face the risk of being excluded from international markets due to new requirements on proving sustainable and deforestation-free production.

Decoupling Agriculture from Deforestation

The main challenge now is to maintain the access of cocoa, coffee, palm oil and timber value chains to international markets and to take advantage of the opportunities that the EU regulation on deforestation-free products may present.

 

Approach

To support a transition to sustainable and deforestation-free value chains in Ecuador, it is necessary to provide tools and approaches to prepare the key actors in the value chain – including the public and private sector – and to promote the formalisation of relevant value chains. The SAFE project supports Ecuador in these processes. To this end, SAFE cooperates at national level with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, and the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries. At the same time, work is being carried out with private sector actors, especially export companies and their associations. At local level, actions are concentrated in the provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana, in the northern Amazon region of Ecuador, together with local governments and cocoa and coffee producer organisations.

Commodities SAFE is working on in Ecuador

Approach

To support a transition to sustainable and deforestation-free value chains in Ecuador, it is necessary to provide tools and approaches to prepare the key actors in the value chain – including the public and private sector – and to promote the formalisation of relevant value chains. The SAFE project supports Ecuador in these processes. To this end, SAFE cooperates at national level with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, and the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries. At the same time, work is being carried out with private sector actors, especially export companies and their associations. At local level, actions are concentrated in the provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana, in the northern Amazon region of Ecuador, together with local governments and cocoa and coffee producer organisations.

The project is organising the “SAFE Challenge”. Stakeholders from the palm oil, natural rubber, and cocoa sectors with links to the European market are invited to submit ideas for ensuring an inclusive transition of smallholders’ practices to sustainable, legal and deforestation-free production. SAFE selects the best ideas and, together with the idea submitters, develops relevant and scalable interventions in West Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi. Throughout implementation, best practices and lessons learned are shared and fed into guidelines, regulations and policy frameworks at national, regional, and global levels.
Additionally, co-investments from the private sector and other means of green finance will be leveraged. SAFE is committed to ensuring that identified interventions will be tailored to address gender gaps in sustainable value chains.

Commodities SAFE is working on in Ecuador

Activities

Financial and Policy Support

Sustainable financing options for farmers are evaluated through partnerships with BanEcuador. This provides inputs for policy improvements in land use, tax compliance, and labor laws, ensuring long-term sustainability and legality in production.

Capacity Building and Certification

Farmers are trained in sustainable production practices, with a focus on environmental standards. The project facilitates farmer registration with the Family Farmer Producers (AFC), improving access to certification and compliance with sustainability requirements.
The activity is especially aimed towards inclusion of marginalised peoples, e.g. women, indigenous communities.

Sustainable Cocoa, Coffee, and Palm Oil

SAFE Ecuador supports smallholder farmers of the cocoa, coffee, and palm oil production, with a special focus on women and indigenous communities, to enhance production capacities and ensure deforestation-free practices. The project supports local and national roundtables on sustainable production, as well as the national inter-institutional committee on sustainable production and commercialisation (CIPCS – Comité Interinstitucional de Producción y Comercialización Sostenible).

Traceability and Due Diligence

Traceability systems and due diligence pilots are implemented across several producer organisations. Through capacity building and risk mitigation analysis, it is ensured that the produced cocoa and coffee meet EUDR requirements.
Through a ToT on Traceability the knowledge and expertise is disseminated on national level.

Strengthening Market Access

In partnerships with international buyers, small producers are connected to the European Market. Partnerships have been established with buyers in Europe, including two coffee alliances with Germany and a cocoa alliance with Switzerland. These alliances help farmers access global markets while complying with deforestation-free criteria, boosting trade opportunities for coffee and cocoa organizations.

Partners

Region:

(Lower) Kafue Catchment Ecosystem

Target group:

Farmers and community forest management groups

Key activities:
  • Support community forest management groups in the
    sustainable management of natural resources and livelihood creation
  • Support farmers to produce soy in line with the EUDR and increase productivity, and implement transparency and traceability pilots
Commodities:
Region:

Lampung, West Kalimantan, and Central Sulawesi

Target group:

Smallholder farmers, private sector, and civil society organizations along the value chains

Key activities:
  • Empowering Smallholder Farmers and Farmer Organizations by facilitating traceability and legality, building capacity on Good Agriculture Practices (GAP), and strengthening farmer organizations, ensuring inclusive support for both men and women farmers.
  • Promoting sustainable practices and collaboration by supporting village HCV/HCS conservation efforts, testing and strengthening the National Dashboard for traceability and legality, and fostering national and regional exchanges.
Commodities:
Coming soon
Coming soon
Region:

Provinces of Orellana and Sucumbíos

Target group:

Smallholder farmers, women, indigenous people and youth

Key activities:
  • Promoting Multi Stakeholder Dialogues
  • Improving traceabilty systems
Commodities:
Region:

Xingu territory, State of Pará

Target group:

Family farmers

Key activities:
  • Improve market access; value creation and access to finance
  • Integrate farmers into tracability systems
Commodities:
Global activities