Three ministries in Ecuador met to approve the specific cooperation plan for the “Resilient Andes” project in Ecuador, to coordinate priority activities for the adaptation to climate change of vulnerable Andean rural communities whose livelihood is family farming, to have a positive impact on their food and water security. 

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and the Helvetas consortium facilitate the national technical committee of the Andes Resilient to Climate Change project, an initiative promoted by SDC’s Global Programme on Climate Change and Environment.

The Ministry of the Environment and Water (MAAE) chaired the committee, composed of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES), who reaffirmed their will and commitment to work together to guide their sectors’ policies and actions, focusing on the adaptation to climate change of the country’s vulnerable rural Andean communities where the Resilient Andes cooperation project will be implemented, contributing to Ecuador’s National Determined Contribution (NDC).

This is the first national technical committee, and it was set up on September 24, as part of the regional Andes Resilient to Climate Change project in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

“The High Andean communities in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru are poor and highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as they suffer from water stress and unstable food production. The Regional Andes Resilient to Climate Change Programme will contribute to the communities’ food and water security, working with government and private players in the three countries to systematize, share and scale up good practices to help improve the living conditions of these communities,» said Luis Miguel Artieda, Programme Manager of Fundación Avina.

The meeting approved the committee’s regulations, the general guidelines for the action plan of the project in Ecuador going forward, and the operational plan for the last quarter of 2020.

These three documents are the result of discussions, consultation and participatory formulation at over 10 meetings and workshops held since July 2020, mainly with the directors of the MAAE, MAG and MIES. Other agencies which work in mountain areas also took part, including the Universidad Regional Amazónica (IKIAM), the FAO, German Cooperation (GIZ), the UNDP, and development projects such as AICCA in Condesan.   

The regional Andes Resilient to Climate Change project will help strengthen liaison between government and private players to provide services for improving poor, vulnerable Andean rural communities’ resilience and capacity to adapt to climate change in order to improve their food security and water security. Each country’s  national technical committee will provide strategic direction and technical advice so that the project’s activities are aligned with national climate change policies and the agriculture and social inclusion sectors’ policies.  

The project is expected to reduce the vulnerabilities of Andean community subsistence farmers by strengthening national and sub-national policies for adaptation to climate change, scaling up of good adaptation practices, monitoring adaptation and sharing regional learning. The project’s first phase is from May 2020 to July 2024.  

Contact information
Andrés Mogro | Líder Técnico Nacional de la Iniciativa Regional Andes Resilientes al Cambio Climático 
Tel: +(593) 992603790 | andres.mogro@avexternos.org