Economic recovery and sustainable livelihoods for Waorani women and their families through bio-entrepreneurship in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
- Country: Ecuador
- Location: Waorani communities in the cantons of Mera and Arajuno, in the province of Pastaza, and Francisco de Orellana, in the province of Orellana, in the Ecuadorian Amazon
- Duration: January 2025 to December 2027
- Participants: 20 women leaders of AMWAE; 90 Waorani women from the intervention communities; 70 families and 55 pikenani, or elders, who improve their food security and living conditions; more than 300 women, AMWAE supplier partners; and, as a whole, 7 Waorani communities to which the participants belong, each of which signs an agreement for the sustainable management of natural resources.
- Area of specialization: Microenterprise training, rural market development.
Starting point
The Waorani are an indigenous nationality of the Ecuadorian Amazon, established in the provinces of Pastaza, Napo, and Orellana. They currently have approximately 3,000 inhabitants spread across approximately 50 communities. Most are located in the middle of the jungle, accessible only by river or small plane, occupying ancestral territories.
Originally, they were a hunter-gatherer ethnic group that was contacted in the 1950s following the arrival of the oil industry in the Amazon. Since then, they have undergone a process of sedentarization and Westernization, which has led to significant gaps in economic and social inequality, with high rates of poverty and child malnutrition. As a result, the Waorani communities extract biodiversity from the Yasuní for their survival. Activities such as hunting for food and the sale of furs and feathers, logging, and burning forests for crops to expand the agricultural frontier have an environmental impact on the Amazon rainforest that threatens its extraordinary biodiversity.
For this reason, it is key to promote environmentally sustainable alternatives for generating income and creating jobs through sustainable bio-enterprises that, in turn, help conserve biodiversity.
Objective
Promote environmental conservation through alternative income generation in 7 Waorani communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon, in the provinces of Pastaza and Orellana.
The specific objectives of this intervention are:
1. To strengthen bio-enterprises in handicrafts and cosmetic creams as an environmentally sustainable alternative for income generation for 90 Waorani women.
2. To improve the quality of life and ecosystem conservation in seven Waorani communities: Toñampare, Kenaweno, Teweno, Daipare, Sapino, and Shellpare (Pastaza) and Miwaguno (Orellana), in Ecuador.
What is the project about
To achieve the defined objectives, CODESPA Foundation and AMWAE, its local partner, will seek to achieve the following results through various activities:
- Strengthen the capacities of AMWAE, as a grassroots organization, to promote sustainable bio-entrepreneurship based on handicrafts produced by Waorani women and their commercialization.
The Association of Waorani Women of the Ecuadorian Amazon (AMWAE), developed in response to uncontrolled poaching of wildlife in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve, promotes the organic cultivation of cacao, chambira, vanilla, and other native species as a measure to protect biodiversity and an alternative for sustainable local development through the promotion of bio-enterprises. At AMWAE, women lead both organic farming and business management activities. The activities planned to achieve this result include support and guidance for AMWAE’s management and staff in improving financial and administrative management, advising on the implementation of the business plan, and providing marketing and sales support, with the goal of building local capacity to forge partnerships and expand sales channels. All of this will ensure the institution’s long-term sustainability.. - Strengthening the capacities and skills of Waorani women in the production of handicrafts and creams, including the sustainable management of chambira and vanilla as a non-timber natural resource.
Chambira fiber is extracted from a palm tree that communities harvest to sustainably use the natural resource, planning plantings and protecting the ecosystem, as families sign conservation commitments through their association with AMWAE.
This will be achieved through the implementation of field schools on the collection and sustainable use of raw materials for handicrafts, and community nurseries for chambira palm and dye plants. This activity includes training on environmental issues and the sustainable management of chambira, as well as training through workshops to improve the quality and innovate in market-oriented handicrafts and cosmetic creams. - Improve food security and the quality of life of Waorani families through practices that respect natural resources.
Waorani families suffer from severe nutritional imbalances. The transition from a hunter-gatherer society to the current process of sedentarization, in which monetary trade is required to obtain basic necessities, has affected the quality of life of families, especially children, who suffer high rates of malnutrition, and the elderly (pikenanis), who are most affected by the change in customs and traditions in their lifestyles.
At this point, the high rate of child malnutrition will be addressed with the donation of dual-purpose chickens (eggs and meat). In addition, a small support program will be implemented for the pikenanis with the provision of hygiene and health kits to improve their quality of life (mosquito nets, walkers, minor adaptations to their homes, etc.).
Finally, agreements will also be promoted between AMWAE and the communities to promote the active conservation of the Amazon ecosystem with the signing of Conservation Agreements, which reduce pressure on the environment.
With support from the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, Delegation to Catalonia, this project seeks to help Waorani communities develop sustainable livelihoods, caring for their natural resources and protecting the extraordinary biodiversity of their environment, helping to create a more sustainable world to pass on to future generations.
Entities that support this project
