SUSTAIN-ANDE. Food Sustainability and New Ecosocial Designs for the Andes of Ecuador

About this project

The "SUSTAIN-ANDE. Food Sustainability and New Ecosocial Designs for the Ecuadorian Andes" project aims to promote sustainable food production in fragile and strategic ecosystems for the country by encouraging agroecological practices that protect and enhance natural resources, provide quality food in areas with high malnutrition rates, and improve the income of small farmers by linking them to local short supply chains. This is a three-year initiative led by Caritas Italiana (project leader) in partnership with COSPE, Caritas Ecuador, and SEDAL. In Ecuador, rural areas, despite the agricultural modernization of the 1980s, continue to register the highest poverty levels (43%) and represent the main emigration zones of the country. The distortions of the globalized market penalize local farmers, often unable to cover production costs, leading to food insecurity. Malnutrition, especially among children, is a serious problem, and Ecuador is the second country in the region for the rate of chronic malnutrition. Ecuadorian economic policies still fail to integrate and enhance the vast local biodiversity and continue to focus on traditional and unsustainable models that cause deforestation (2% annually), loss of biodiversity, water pollution, soil erosion, and desertification, exacerbated by climate change. However, new laws assign responsibility for managing protected areas to the MAATE and local governments. SUSTAIN-ANDE aims to intervene at the political, cultural, and technica…

Goals

Sustainable Development Goals this project works towards

• 2Zero Hunger
• 6Clean Water and Sanitation
• 8Decent Work and Economic Growth
• 12Responsible Consumption and Production
• 13Climate Action

Published by

AICS - Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development · Government

Countries

Ecuador

Sectors

Agricultural servicesRural developmentHousehold food security programmes

Focus

Gender equality · Also contributesNutrition · Main focusEnvironment · Also contributesTrade development · Also contributesBiodiversity · Also contributesClimate mitigation · Also contributesClimate adaptation · Main focusMaternal, newborn and child health · Also contributes

Funded by

AICS - Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development

Implemented by

CARITAS ITALIANA

Accountable

AICS - Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development

Published by AICS - Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), last updated 6 Sept 2026 and imported automatically. IATI identifier: XM-DAC-6-4-013244-08-9.

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