Popular and Solidarity Economy: Policies and Realities in the Local Context—The Case of the Agricultural Productive Associations of El Valle, Ecuador

Abstract

The popular and solidarity economy (EPS) emerges as an alternative approach to poverty aligned with the principles of sustainable development; in this sense, some countries in the region have adopted policies for its growth and development, among them Ecuador. The experience of a rural community was shown; the objective of the study was to identify the factors that hinder the achievement of better efficiency indexes, regarding the implementation of policies at the local level, with respect to rural productive associations. The case of the agricultural productive associations located in the parish of El Valle, Cuenca, Ecuador, was studied. The type of research was mixed: quantitative to support the information extracted from the instruments applied and derive the pertinent analysis and qualitative to collect primary information from the actors involved in the study. We used the action research model through the use of surveys, interviews and focus groups. The key contribution of this work was to making visible and understanding the needs of the rural communities of the sector from their development perspectives, respecting their ancestral knowledge and articulating from the academy the private–public action for the generation of policies for governance, effective application of democracy and promotion of the technical and associative potential of the agroecological productive units. The results show regularities in terms of their socioeconomic situation, their mode of action and the impact caused on their productive dynamics by the atomized decisions of local actors in the exercise of governance. These fail to articulate the implementation of policies at the territorial level to the detriment of their effectiveness and efficiency and, therefore, do not bring about substantial changes in their levels of dependence and dynamics of productive activity—diagnostic components that will be used for the formulation of joint multilevel policies.

Las universidades ecuatorianas y su aporte en la innovación social a través del desarrollo de investigaciones participativas

“…En esta línea, los estudios identificados intentan cambiar las estructuras de poder y dar mayor responsabilidad a los participantes. Este proceso de empoderamiento da lugar al vínculo entre el desarrollo comunitario y el desarrollo social (Midgley 2014) y va de la mano con la categoría teórica de la emancipación (Freire 2005), que es parte del paradigma de la gestión social.…”

LA MUJER Y EL EMPRENDIMIENTO SOCIAL EN EL ECUADOR: Educación y desarrollo de competencias

“…ECONOMÍA POPULAR Y SOLIDARIA Los índices de pobreza en América Latina han aumentado, los cuales recaen en las zonas rurales, y a pesar de las políticas implementadas por los países aún no se ha podido eliminar la causa de esta situación; el origen se remonta a la época colonial y se refleja en la actualidad la desigualdad estructural y de intercambio disparejo. En estas condiciones, los países de la periferia son los más afectados, ya que el crecimiento económico depende claramente de la explotación de los recursos naturales, apoyado en un modelo económico productivo predominantemente extractivo (Gómez et al, 2021).…”

Research on Agricultural and Rural Public Governance and Sustainable Development: Evidence from 2350 Data

“…Government and non-governmental organizations must improve their rural and agricultural development policies [26], define policies that are socially and environmentally acceptable and geared towards tackling complex challenges [27], and advance the development of plans and strategies for the sustainable development of villages [28]. Priority should be given to the construction of transportation infrastructure, regulation of farmland transfer, industrial integration, promotion of rural entrepreneurship and land consolidation [29]; improving public investments in infrastructures, human capital, and technology in agriculture and rural area to enhance the competitiveness [30]; strengthening more effective public forest governance [4]; developing multi-talent rural education and integrating first, second, and third industries [31][32][33]; facilitating bridging the technical and associative potential of agroecological production [34]; and increasing farmers' income, forming a more complete agricultural product supply chain, and highlighting the agricultural brand effect [35,36]. Simultaneously, more attention needs to be paid to the reconstruction of governance structures and governance models in rural areas [37].…”