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UN PhotoFAO / ECUADOR ANCESTRAL PRACTICES FOR CLIMATE ACTION
STORY: ECUADOR / ANCESTRAL PRACTICES FOR CLIMATE ACTION
TRT: 03:14
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: SEE SHOT LIST
6-12 JULY 2025, COTACACHI, ECUADOR
1. Various shots, drone footage, Cotacachi town and rural area
2. Wide shot, Madgalena Laine’s chakra or ‘farm’
3. Various shots, Madgalena Laine working on maize field
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Magdalena Laine, farmer from the Kichwa Indigenous Peoples:
“We have stronger heat and sun, and we have less rain. Every year, the climate changes, and we lose part of the crop production and the medicinal plants. Everything dries.”
5. Various shots, Madgalena Laine selecting native varieties of maize kernels with her daughter
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish), María Piñán, leader of the Women’s Central Committee of UNORCAC:
“For Andean communities in Cotacachi, native seeds are very important because with them we cope with climate change. We are witnessing how the weather and the [farming] cycles are changing. We’re enduring droughts, pests, and frosts. And we’re witnessing how these native seeds have adapted to climate extremes over time.”
7. Various shots, Kichwa Women participate in a sacred ceremony at Cuicocha National Park in Cotacachi
13 OCTOBER 2025, ROME, ITALY
8. Various shots, drone footage, FAO headquarters.
9 DECEMBER 2025, ROME, ITALY
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Piedad Martín, Deputy Director of FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment:
“There are practices [of Indigenous Peoples] that allow cultivation under shade and increase productivity, as well as capturing carbon in trees. There are many valuable traditional practices around the world, and it is very important that they are not lost. FAO is playing a very important role in systematising and preserving these practices, both because of the vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples to climate change and other issues, and because of the abandonment of rural areas and the loss of culture. These practices are in danger of disappearing, yet they surely hold the solutions we need for many of the issues that come with climate risks.”
6-12 JULY 2025, COTACACHI, ECUADOR
10. Various shots, farmer selecting native varieties of maize kernels
9 DECEMBER 2025, ROME, ITALY
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Piedad Martín, Deputy Director of FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment:
“FAO proposes that there should be adaptation to climate change combined with climate change mitigation and improved agricultural practices that help to balance ecosystems and produce food, as well as reduce emissions. We want a balance between nature conservation, emissions reduction, and building resilience for territories.”
6-12 JULY 2025, COTACACHI, ECUADOR
12. Various shots, drone footage, chakras and farms in Cotacachi
In the highlands of Ecuador, at altitudes between 2,500 and 3,400 meters above sea level, the Kichwa Indigenous Peoples have maintained a unique farming system ensuring food security and income generation. It is known as the Andean chakra.
This system of mountain plateaus — locally called pisos climáticos — has been fine-tuned by ancestral knowledge over generations who successfully grew a wide array of crops, vegetables, and fruits despite the harsh and changing conditions posed by altitude and topography.
However, climate change has introduced new challenges, with extreme weather events —such as droughts and floods— endangering the integrity of the Andean chakra. Rising temperatures intensify pest outbreaks and disrupt crop yields, damaging the sustainability of rural livelihoods.
Madgalena Laine, a 59-year-old farmer from the Kichwa Indigenous Peoples, operates her farm near the town of Cotacachi. Here, she produces maize, quinoa, lupins, and various fresh vegetables and fruits. Her family utilizes much of the harvest for sustenance, while surplus goods are sold in a local market for additional income.
Laine, also known as a “seed guardian” for her role in preserving local native varieties of maize seeds, explains that the impacts of climate extremes are increasingly threatening agricultural production in her chakra.
Magdalena Laine, farmer from the Kichwa Indigenous Peoples, said, “We have stronger heat and sun, and we have less rain. Every year, the climate changes, and we lose part of the crop production and the medicinal plants. Everything dries.”
In 2023, the Andean chakra was designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). The designation recognized the importance of the Andean chakra for food security and its contribution to agrobiodiversity conservation through traditional knowledge, sustainability, and resilience.
Through the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) mechanism, FAO has supported farmers' organizations strengthening the climate resilience of communities by promoting the use and exchange of native seeds. One of these organizations is the Women’s Central Committee of the Union of Peasant and Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations of Cotacachi (UNORCAC).
María Piñán, leader of the Women’s Central Committee of UNORCAC, says her organization supports the use of native seeds in the chakras because they have proven to be more resilient to climate extremes.
María Piñán, leader of the Women’s Central Committee of UNORCAC, said, “For Andean communities in Cotacachi, native seeds are very important because with them we cope with climate change. We are witnessing how the weather and the [farming] cycles are changing. We’re enduring droughts, pests, and frosts. And we’re witnessing how these native seeds have adapted to climate extremes over time.”
FAO recognizes the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge for building resilience and safeguarding our future in the face of climate uncertainty.
Piedad Martín, Deputy Director of FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment, underscored that FAO’s role is to “preserve” traditional practices and knowledge, so they don’t disappear and can become part of the climate solutions.
Piedad Martín, Deputy Director of FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment, said, “There are practices [of Indigenous Peoples] that allow cultivation under shade and increase productivity, as well as capturing carbon in trees. There are many valuable traditional practices around the world and it is very important that they are not lost. FAO is playing a very important role in systematising and preserving these practices, both because of the vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples to climate change and other issues, and because of the abandonment of rural areas and the loss of culture. These practices are in danger of disappearing, yet they surely hold the solutions we need for many of the issues that come with climate risks.”
With extreme heat, droughts, floods and other disasters costing global agriculture USD 3.26 trillion over the past three decades, agriculture and food systems are central in the discussion around climate mitigation and resilience.
Since the historic Paris Agreement to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C was reached by world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015, FAO has played a leading role in placing agrifood systems on the climate agenda while ensuring food security and nutrition for present and future generations.
FAO is supporting countries in incorporating solutions across agricultural sectors to build resilience, reduce emissions, and safeguard food security, explains Martín.
Piedad Martín said, “FAO proposes that there should be adaptation to climate change combined with climate change mitigation and improved agricultural practices that help to balance ecosystems and produce food, as well as reduce emissions. We want a balance between nature conservation, emissions reduction, and building resilience for territories.”
Throughout COP30, held in Brazil from 10 to 21 of November, FAO worked with countries and partners to place agriculture and food security at the center of negotiations, including discussions on the Global Goal on Adaptation, loss and damage, nationally determined contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans, climate finance, and just transition.
FAO supported the development of the COP Presidency’s Action Agenda, including new initiatives on agriculture, forests, and bioeconomy and will play a central role in their implementation.
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