Sustentabilidad De Las Unidades Productivas Agrícolas en La Cordillera Occidental De Los Andes Ecuatorianos

Abstract

<p><strong>Background</strong>: In this research, the sustainability of the productive systems of the parish of El Tingo La Esperanza, Ecuador was evaluated to make a diagnosis considering 25 sustainability indicators corresponding to the social, economic and environmental dimensions.<strong> Objective</strong>: To evaluate sustainability in the different groups of agricultural production units (APU). <strong>Methodology:</strong> Structured interviews were conducted with 109 producers of the Agricultural Production Unit (APU) to determine indicators of sustainability and clustering of APU using Ward's method. Subsequently, the sustainability attributes were determined in each group to calculate the General Sustainability Index (IGS); and finally, the influence of the attributes in each APU group was analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). <strong>Results:</strong> There is a high variability among the sector's production systems, represented by 5 groups of APU. Sustainability applying 25 indicators allowed us to observe that there is weak sustainability in the sector in all dimensions, especially in the environmental dimension. The evaluation of the General Sustainability Index (GSI) shows that APU1 are sustainable and resilient, while in APU2 sustainability is affected by difficulties in the production system, APU 3, 4 and 5 have very low sustainability values; especially the APU3 which lives in critical conditions; in the same way, the PCA shows that APU3 is not associated with any sustainability attribute. <strong>Implication</strong><strong>:</strong><strong> </strong>The producers of El Tingo La Esperanza parish especially those belonging to APU 3, 4 and 5, require special attention in improving their diversity, productivity and association capacity to improve their quality of life and therefore their sustainability.<strong> </strong><strong>Conclusion</strong>: To design an effective strategy for the development of the parish, the diversity of the APU, their sustainability and critical points must be taken into account.</p>