This paper analyzes the impact of participation in multi-stakeholder platforms (Plataformas) aimed at linking smallholder potato farmers to the market in the mountain region of Ecuador. It describes and evaluates the Plataformas’ program to determine whether it has been successful in linking farmers to higher-value markets and the effects that such connections have brought, particularly with regard to farmers’ welfare and to the environment. The analysis is run comparing a set of different and carefully constructed control groups to beneficiaries and using various specifications.

This report provides a synthesis of all findings and information generated through a “stocktaking” process that involved a desk study of Prolinnova documents and evaluation reports, a questionnaire to 40 staff members of international organizations in agricultural research and development (ARD), self-assessment by the Country Platforms (CPs) and backstopping visits to five CPs. In 2014, the Prolinnova network saw a need to re-strategise in a changing context, and started this process by reviewing the activities it had undertaken and assessing its own functioning.

This country note briefly summarizes information relevant to both climate change and agriculture in Ecuador, with focus on policy developments (including action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. Like most countries in Latin America, Ecuador has submitted one national communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a second one under preparation. Land use change and forestry are the largest contributors to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in the country.

The inadequate linkage of knowledge generation in agricultural research organizations with policy-making and economic activity is an important barrier to sustainable development and poverty reduction. The emerging fields of sustainability science and innovation systems studies highlight the importance of “boundary management” and “innovation brokering” in linking knowledge production, policy-making, and economic activities. This paper analyzes how the Papa Andina Partnership Program, based at the International Potato Center, functions as an innovation broker in the Andean potato sector.

El PMC Maíz amarillo duro tuvo como objetivo principal que el país llegue a la autosuficiencia de manera competitiva, es decir que ya no dependa de las importaciones y que la demanda sea cubierta por la producción nacional con precios adecuados en relación a la oferta internacional, logrando al mismo tiempo mejorar la calidad de vida del agricultor y la rentabilidad para todos los actores de la cadena.

Este documento presenta los resultados de la primera parte de la consultoría realizada para el RIMISP-Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural. El objetivo de la consultoría es: “contar con un análisis sobre productividad de la ganadería de carne de la Costa del Ecuador, tanto por hectárea, como por persona empleada, diferenciando por niveles tecnológicos y tipos de productores.

The aim of this study was to analyze the value chain of lupine bean across the stages, agents, flows and activities (primary and support), considering socioeconomic and productive aspects, allowing the expansion of knowledge of the same one and contributing with the planning of competitive strategies. A systemic methodology was applied which involves socioeconomic, integration, production, performance and linkage aspects among the agents, reflecting the economic process of the value chain of lupine bean

The progress of the country and the welfare of the people depends on productivity, as an indicator of efficiency in the use of natural resources, capital and human talent. Ecuador is going through a deep crisis in the production of coffee where demand is much greater than supply with 1,560,000 bags of deficit, mainly of robusta coffee.

In this article is presented an emergent capacity development approach that the authors have developed through participatory action research in Peru and Ecuador, which they call ‘systemic theories of change’ (STOC), for organisational capacity development. They argue that capacity development should be understood as systemic learning. The STOC approach promotes reflection about how we as individuals, organisations, and broader social groups and societal configurations, understand how change occurs.

This book reports on the Papa Andina Partnership Program, which has been an especially innovative and productive regional initiative, bringing together researchers, small farmers, diverse market actors, and dozens of organizations in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru to spur innovation in public policies, potato products, and value market chains.