Cuenca Urban Agriculture

8/10/2019 Cuenca Urban Agriculture

1/23

CUENCA URBAN AGRICULTURE

Author: Cecilia Condo

January, 2001

Guayaquil, Ecuador


2/23

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 2

1.

Poverty Analysis of Cuenca

1.1.Poverty: extent, severity and specific features 3

1.2.Vulnerable groups 5

1.3.Causes of poverty 6

2. UPA Policy Analysis

2.1.Institutional and legal framework 7

2.2.Cuenca Urban Agriculture Program: Policy Analysis 8

2.2.a. Redistribution 10

2.2.b. Targeting 10

2.2.c. Opportunities 102.2.d. Security 11

2.2.e. Empowerment and capacity building 11

3. Stakeholders Analysis

3.1.Analysis of social actors 12

3.2.SWOT 15

4. CUAP Policy Assessment

4.1.Effectiveness 16

4.2.

Efficiency 174.3.Equity 18

4.4.Sustainability 18

5. Conclusions and recommendations 18

Annex 1 20

Bibliography


3/23

4

CUENCA URBAN AGRICULTURE PROGRAM: UPA ASSESSMENT

Introduction

The last 2 decades in Latin America has been a continuous process of social, economic and political

deterioration in most of the countries of this region. Ecuador is a good example of that and the

deterioration of the environment, the living conditions of the population and representative democracy are

evidence of the sharp contradictions in the current model of development. In fact, it is possible to affirm

the country has reached an economic, political and environmental collapse, but simultaneously has been

generating significant economic accumulation for tiny sectors of the population (Surez and Lpez

1997:83).

From 1998 up to 2000, Ecuador has been indeed in a terrible situation, which has not been overcome yet.

By 1999 the financial system broke down and next year dollarisation was adopted in a desperate attempt to

stop hyperinflation, and the general situation in the country worsened Ortiz 2000:77). Poverty increasedand as a strategy to overcome the crisis thousand of people migrated to other countries as USA, Spain and

Italy (CEPLAES 1999). In fact, even if there is no official data, there are some approximations that suggest

more than 150,000 people migrating out of the country during 1999 (Vos 2000:36). Moreover, during 2000

income sent by migrants were the second highest source of income in a national level (US$1,330 millions)

after the oil export, the first source (Hoy:30 May,2001).

In this context, the main city of Ecuador where people are migrating from is Cuenca. Located in the south

Andean region, the city has an estimated population of 300,000 people by year 2000 living in 70 km2. By

1990 there were around 45,000 families with an average of 4.6 members per family (INEC Census 1990).

Cuenca is mainly known for its historical and cultural wealthy as well as its diverse industry.

About its industry, since 1970 there is an Industrial park in the city with more than 60 firms and 3,000

formal workers. Mainly industries are production of textiles, ceramic tiles, paper, food processing, tapestry

and some others (El Comercio February 24, 1998). Besides this park, there are also industries extracting

and processing marble, producing panama hats; and handicrafts industries produced basically by

indigenous people and concentrated in clusters near to the city. In fact, due to Cuencas rich artisan

production the Organisation of American States (OAS) has established the Interamerican Center of Popular

Arts CIDAP (Servidatos 1999). Some of these industries are exporting their goods to other countries in

Latin America, the USA and Europe.

Within this context of industrial development and migration, there is an important group of the inhabitants

of the city living in poor conditions with unsatisfied basic needs and without access to many services. This

paper is focusing in strategies made by local government (Municipality) to address urban poverty in an

innovative way, through the Cuenca Urban Agriculture Program.


4/23

5

1. Poverty Analysis of Cuenca

Poverty has been seen as a multi-dimensional approach, combining social, economic and political

indicators, with implicit criteria of vulnerability and entitlement. Vulnerability with a meaning of

defencelessness, insecurity, and exposure to risk, shocks and stress and entitlement referring to the

complex ways in which individuals or households command resources. These include wages, sale of

assets, own production, reducing consumption and public provision of goods and services. (Wratten

1995:17).

Expressions of poverty in Cuenca have been identified in terms of social, economic, environmental and

political problems, which are explained below.

1.1. Poverty: Extent, Severity and specific features

In terms of social aspects: poverty and inequality, migration and illiteracy have been identified as the

main features of poverty.

About poverty, during 1980 and 1990 it has become increasingly concentrated in urban settlements

(Wratten 1995:11). Along with the process of urbanisation, poverty is also increasingly being

urbanized (Wegelin and Borgman 1995:131). In that way, poverty and inequality are very closed

aspects of the same issue, and any of them can be examined as the cause but also the consequence of

the other.

During 1998 the difference of income between the 5% poorest and the 5% richest in the country was

109 times, meanwhile in 1999 it increased to 203 times (CEDATOS 2000). In Cuenca inequalities have

been increasing faster since 1997, when migration processes accelerated, originating a dual

consequence: sometimes sharply improvement of living conditions of their families (those who got ajob abroad) but other times pauperising them (when they can not get a job or simply stop sending

money home). In fact, in 1998 in Cuenca the 10% richest got 40% of income of the city, meanwhile the

20% poorest got 4,7%. In terms of money, the former earned a monthly average per household of

US$1,080, meanwhile the latter around US$30 (CEDATOS 2000).

Therefore, inequalities in the city explain levels of poverty: 51% people with at least one Unsatisfied

Basic Need in 1998 (INEC 1998) and 38% people below the poverty line (CEDATOS 1998).

Inequality is also reflected in Gini coefficient of the city: 0.44%1.

In terms of emigration, it is a phenomenon that has increased sharply in the last three years, especiallyin low-income groups and - within them- young male adults (30 40 years). For most of the

households of migrants living out of the country more than 5 years, the economic situation has

improved slightly and some social wellbeing has been achieved, such as increases in literacy, years of

schooling, nutrition and purchasing power. But experience has shown that the first 3 years out of the

1Gini coefficient is an index that measures inequality. It is measured between 0 to 1, and as higher the number as

more inequality it reflects.


5/23

6

country are critical for the survival of their families. This phenomenon has not had any effective

response neither from the Central Government, with policies in a national level, nor from the Local

Government, with strategies that attack the causes of migration. Nevertheless, there are some attempts

to target migrants families and to promote economic development as a mean for preventing future

migration.

Many authors have been analysed emigration as a response of the new international division of labour,

as part of the intensification of Neoliberal economic models all over the world (Hoy:26 April,2000).

But there are also national causes at the macro and micro level. Among the first ones, one may find the

incapacity of the market to absorb labour supply, the absence of policies addressing this issue and some

others. In a micro level, emigration has been seen as a very profitable business for middleman or

coyotes (people in charge of bringing migrants illegally to other countries), not just people but entire

organisations in charge of promoting migration illegally at very expensive costs (El Comercio: 12

October, 1997).

In the other hand, this process is accompanied with immigration of thousands of people from ruralareas towards the city, and despite all talk about urban crisis it is evident that the city itself is a giant

machine of poverty alleviation (Berner 1998:1). In fact, even with an estimated rate of 20% of the

household heads (El Comercio: 12 October, 1997) leaving the country up to 1997, Cuenca shows an

urban growth rate of 3,8%, higher than the national level of 2,11% (INEC 1998).

And about illiteracy, with a rate of 10% of adult population (close to national rates) this has become an

important feature of poverty, especially when one relates illiteracy with poverty. In a study made in the

country in 1997, the results show illiterate people earn almost have of the income of people with

primary education, and almost !of income of people with superior education (MARKOP 1997). It is

also important to clarify that most of this illiterate people belong to indigenous groups, and amongthem, women are in the worst conditions (INEC 1990). Indigenous population in Cuenca represents an

8% of the total inhabitants.

In terms of economic aspects: unemployment and child labour are the main faces of poverty.

Unemployment in Cuenca in 1999 was about 18% (INEC 1999) meanwhile the informal sector was

around 38% of the working population of the city (UNCHS 1999). In the same way, Cuenca is known

as one of the cities in the country with higher rates of working children, even without official numbers.

These are the main features of poverty in the sense that all this people (without a job and in the

informal sector) are bearing the consequences of the crisis of the country and the incapacity of the city

to offer them possibilities for developing in minimum standards of living.

For a more detailed list of social and economic indicators of Cuencas population living conditions one

may check Annex 1, at the end of this paper.

In terms of environmental aspects: pollution and deforestation are the principal problems. Water

pollution of the 4 rivers surrounding the city, erosion of the soil, accumulation of solid waste in the

slopes of the mountain (through the city) and deforestation of green areas are the main features of


6/23

7

poverty in the city reflected in the environment (Cruz 2000:12). These affect the whole city but

predominantly the marginal areas where the poorest are living, without security of land tenure and in

risky health conditions.

Among the main problems in terms of political aspects one may find populism, patronage and lack of

participation. The three features belong to a vicious circle of corruption and citizens indifference to

political life of the city. These are related to poverty in the sense that the first two ones are used as

strategy for alleviating poverty; meanwhile the latter decreases civil societys negotiation power

towards the local and central government, debilitating them in their task against poverty.

1.2. Vulnerable groups

Some groups show mayor vulnerability in Cuenca in the current context of crisis, as in most of the

main cities in the country:

i.

Extreme poverty households, mainly those with a single income from the informal sector. It isgroup living in structural poverty, with many unsatisfied basic needs, low access to social

services and incapacity to satisfy nutritional requirements. Within these households, the

children below 5 years are most exposed to poverty (malnutrition and risk of death), household

headed women (risk of maternal problems and acquisition capacity deterioration), the youth

(school dropouts) and the old (incapacity for caring health problems) (Vos 2000:36).

Physically, these households are located in marginal areas, forming a poverty belt around the

city, in risky and polluted places.

ii. Households of recent migrants out of the country, especially women headed households. In the

case of male migrants, the first 3 years out of home are critical for their families (particularlywomen), especially when they were the single income in the households. Emigrating usually

are financed by huge credits from the informal sector that their families have to pay later on,

where interests are higher than the formal sector and the possibility of evasion practically does

not exist (Hoy:26 April, 2000). Certainly, a coyote charges between US$7,000 to $10,000 per

person and their monthly interest is around 2%(Hoy: 2 November,1999). Besides this burden,

household members have to adjust to new sources of income and to new roles of each member

within the family, especially mothers functions.

iii. Migrants coming from rural areas, especially indigenous groups lacking of housing and other

assets. These households originally were living in the countryside and were involved inagricultural activities. After migration towards the city, they become the poorest group usually

living in the streets, out of the formal sector and surviving begging in the downtown. Among

them, children are in the worst conditions, especially if they do not speak Spanish: risky

situations while they are begging are additional to malnutrition, illiteracy and health problems.

iv. The Handicapped. Even if they represent a small percentage of the population, handicapped

youth and adults are a very vulnerable group with almost no available services and/or


7/23

8

opportunities for development within the city. But this reality does not fit with handicapped

kids, who have available educational and other services that cover the first years of life and

their basic needs.

1.3. Causes of poverty in Cuenca

Even with a lack of information of the city and its diverse forms and causes of poverty, one may

attempt to identify and analyse some basic causes of poverty in Cuenca. From an integrated

development approach, causes of poverty are interlinked and must be tackled in a co-ordinated way

(Wratten 1995:29), and within them it is possible to differentiate structural and eventual causes, from a

macro and micro perspective.

Among structural national causes (macro perspective), one may consider the current Neoliberal

economic model as the main cause of Cuencas poverty as in the rest of the country, and it has been

analysed repeatedly. In fact, economic crisis and Structural Adjustment Policies SAPs (as one of theproperties of Neoliberal model) introduced in the Third World have had a disproportionate impact on

the urban poor, due to rising food prices, declining real wages and redundancy in the formal labour

market, and reduced public expenditure on basic services and infrastructure. (Moser, Herbert and

Makonnen 1993 in Wratten 1995:11).

In this way, it has been fully proved that economic growth after SAPs has not brought equity and

reduction of poverty in urban and rural areas (Wratten 1995:14). Moreover, deterioration of living

conditions in middle and low-income groups has been a consequence of SAPs and an increase of the

gap between the richest and the poorest groups in the city. Another important consequence of the

implementation of this model, and cause of poverty in the city is the emigration movement that isweakening family structures, increasing poverty and enlarging womens burden as households head

(Cruz 2000:12).

International flows of money coming from migrants could be analysed as a cause of poverty in the city

due to its inflationary character. Speculation could be seen as a result of excess of cash in the city and

is increasing fast, impacting in inflation up to the point that in 2000 annual inflation was on 108%,

higher rate than the national index (El Comercio:11 July,2000).

Another important structural cause of poverty is social, economic and political exclusion that

indigenous groups have stood historically by Spanish colonisation since more than 5 centuries ago, andlater on, by mestizo people of the country. Social exclusion can be defined as recurrent patterns of

social relationships in which individuals and groups are denied access to the goods, services, activities

and resources which are generally associated with citizenship (Gore and Figueiredo in Jackson

1999:127). This analysis is made in terms of voicelessness and powerlessness of these groups towards

the institutions of state and society (World Bank 2000:34).


8/23

9

From a political perspective, another cause of poverty is the political instability of the country that does

not allow government to implement main reforms in any area, when they threaten political and

economic elite. Evidence of this situation is the recurrent coups of the Presidents and Vice-president of

the country by alliances of the civil society with political parties and economic elite.

From a micro perspective, an eventual cause of poverty was El Nio phenomenon during 1998-1999,

which aggravated housing and environmental situation in the city as in most of the country- and later

on, economic and social impacts too (Hoy 2000).

In all the aspects previously analysed, vulnerability is present as a permanent cause of poverty. Defined

as inability to cope with adverse shocks (World Bank 2000:34), exposure and defencelessness

(Chambers 1995:174) and insecurity (Berner 2001), is present in all the vulnerable groups in the city.

All these causes are interlinked and should be address in a multi-dimensional way, with policies at the

macro level accompanied with programmes at the micro level, addressing social and economic

development in general and targeting the poor specifically. Otherwise, any effort promoting theeconomic growth will increase inequalities and poverty; and targeting the poor without economic

growth will not be sustainable in the long run.

2. Urban Poverty Alleviation Policy Analysis

2.1. Institutional and legal framework (macro perspective)

In the current context of implementation of SAPs in the country and its poverty, there are not real

responsive Social Policies in the country, especially for children and the youth. There have been fewattempts from the central government to reduce inequalities and to improve living conditions of the

poorest through social programmes. They have tried to target the weakest and poorest sector of the

population with some positive results, but with a relatively high exclusion (Pablo de la Vega 1998).

One of them is the Bono Solidario (Solidarity Bonus), an income transfer targeted to the most

vulnerable groups identified by government: unemployed women heads of households, the old without

social security and the handicapped (Vos 2000: 36). This is a program initiated in 1998 with a national

coverage, with a monthly allowance of US$6 per person in the case of households heads women, and

US$3 in the case of the old.

In the same way, there are neither national policies nor local ones to promote economic growth. Therehave been some efforts to address access to job through flexible contracting system such as the

maquila law, but they have been suspended temporarily as other problems have been prioritised by

government. In fact, government is trying to carry on policies that would discourage economic

production and trade, especially among micro and small enterprises. That is the case of the new tax of

1% to circulacin de capitales (cash flows) that government is trying to enforce to the informal sector,

in order to increase taxation base and national revenues (Hoy:10 February, 1999).


9/23


10/23

11

formal but flexible credit system with lower interests than commercial rates. Technical support is

permanent during the process of production and commercialisation of their agricultural products.

Commercialisation of products is facilitated by providing places in local markets and placing open

markets in new areas. And there is an attempt to reduce/eliminate taxation of the plots that are used for

production, as an incentive from the Local Government for producers.

But the poor have also been seen as consumers and citizens. As consumers, the goal is to offer to the

whole population of the city healthier food at lower prices eliminating middleman; but also focusing in

marginal areas through open markets, as a way of improving food security. As citizens, people are

supported to participate through community organisations but this is not an exclusionary requirement.

In this way, the basic objectives that CUAP team has proposed are:

a. strengthen and initiate Urban Agriculture Activities with the population,

b. prioritising the poorest sectors, assuring food supply, employment generation and

commercialisation of surplus,c. emphasising use of existing local and institutional resources,

d. promoting ecological agriculture (Best Practices 2000).

In this way, urban agriculture has come to be recognized as an important survival strategy for the poor.

Besides, urban agriculture is not only an income-generating opportunity for the urban poor but also

improves their state of health (IDRC 1993 in Wegelin and Borgman 1995:137). Furthermore, this

program is making available waste collection for urban poor communities in the city and at the same

time, using that as fertilizer for their crops. Therefore, Municipality is assuming a double function:

delivering basic services (or enabling others deliver the service) and facilitating production of urban

poor.

In an international context, there are some programs that have been identified to help Municipalities to

fulfil their responsibilities in reducing/alleviating urban poverty. One of these initiatives is the Urban

Management Program (UMP), an initiative of the World Bank, the UNDP and UNCHS, where urban

poverty alleviation is one of the five thematic action areas (Vanderschueren et al.1995: 6). There have

been strengthened the macro and micro level for poverty reduction. CUAP is part of the Latin

American UMP and has been analysed in terms of transferability to be applied in other cities of the

region.

The CUAP basically consists in 4 lines of action:i. organic agricultural production

ii. commercialisation

iii. organic waste collection

iv. environmental education


11/23

12

For each of them, communities and third sector organisations participating are expected to be involved

in the activities of the program in an proactive way, with their own resources and in processes of

planning, decision making, executing and evaluating activities.

For the agricultural production empty plots in the city are used in a collective way with technical

assistance from the single worker financed by the Municipality, a specialist in organic agriculture.

When crops are ready, the surplus is sold in various markets. The waste collection is permanent and is

used as fertiliser for the crops. The whole process is accompanied by environmental campaigns towards

the whole city and permanent training for the different stages of the process.

In order to analyse CUAP results 5 criteria have been selected: redistribution, targeting, opportunities,

security and empowerment.

2.2.a. Redistribution

Within the program, one may talk about redistribution in terms of land tenure in the city. Publicand community empty plots and private empty plots (from the Church, the University and some

other social actors) are used for harvesting by community groups and organisations. They can be

used free of charge but they are still properties of their owners. This mechanism could be seen as

an elementary way of redistribution, in the sense that access to land is being guaranteed to low

income people, transferring the benefits of lands.

2.2.b. Targeting

The program is a combination of group targeting and self-targeting, due to its double strategy in

production and commercialisation. First at all, CUAP team proposes the program to specificcommunities identified as the poorest in the city, and then they can choose to participate

individually and/or by group. In any case, the requirements to be part of the program are

demanding in terms of collective action and time constraints. So it can be seen as a self-targeting,

where just the poorest group will accept replace their (usually) informal activities for a new and

more secure way of earning income, sometimes unknown for them.

An important targeted group is handicapped youth and adults, who were registered in the Social

Welfare Ministry, and currently they are participating in this program. Women are also encouraged

to participate in the program. Even if there are not facilities for them as households heads in terms

of child care, working hours are flexible and women - according to their needs and availability -establish them.

2.2.c. Opportunities

The CUAP is giving opportunities of increase income and/or access to self-employment to the

people involved in it, especially due to access to land, a key precondition for urban agricultural

programmes. In the same way, some assets and tools are being provided by NGOs part of CUAP


12/23

13

team for collective use. This opportunities plus technical assistance and training are the main

strategies of CUAP, and also marketing the products and during the process of commercialisation.

2.2.d. Security

Insecurity, as the main aspect of urban poverty, has been addressed by the CUAP. Assuring

security of income and somehow of land as a mean of production- for the people involved in the

program, it trying to promote food security in the lowest-income groups of the city. This issue of

security is an important aspect of emigration processes of Cuencas inhabitants because the main

reason that migrants state for doing so is trying to assure a minimum security for their families

survival (Martnez 1999:67).

2.2.e. Empowerment and Capacity Building

Definitely the CUAP is developed trying to empower poor communities and third sector

organisations for finding ways to overcome poverty. In this way, empowerment is seen as theprocess of assisting disadvantages individuals and groups to gain greater control than they

presently have over local and national decision-making and resources, and of their ability and right

to define collective goals, make decisions and learn from experience (Edwards and Hulme

1992:24 in de Wit 1997:7).

To achieve this goal CUAPs organisations (NGOs and CBOs) are involved in capacity building

processes about environmental issues, technical and managerial issues, and so forth. However,

capacity building entails much more than training and it has been understood as all the efforts to

strengthen and improve the abilities of staff and organisations to achieve specific developmental

goals and objectives (Peltenburg 2001). In this way, the final goal of Municipality within theprogram is to transfer it to non-governmental organisations and make it self-sustained in the

coming future. Therefore many attempts have been made in this logic and currently most of the

activities and responsibilities are carried on by them and not by local government.

3. Stakeholders analysis

The CUAP is based in a public/private partnership model of action, where State and third-sector

organisations work together to promote income and employment strategies among the poor, facilitating the

supply of inputs into the process (UNCHS 1993:110). Co-ordinated by the Municipality, a team of 28

different organisations is working with 833 people (including students, disabled youth and retired persons)in the sustainable urban and peri-urban production and commercialisation of agricultural products. The

CUAP working group includes representatives of all related Municipal Departments, NGOs, the Catholic

Church and academy who have been working together in all the steps of the program (Best Practices 2000).

Among them, 11 private and non-governmental organisations are executing their own projects within the

program, 5 organisations offer technical support, the Municipality is co-ordinating the CUAP team and the

rest are CBOs which are increasing participation on the program.


13/23

14

3.1. Analysis of social actors

Stakeholders have been analysed in terms of their role, response to poverty and institutional capacity.

In order of relevance within the CUAP, Local government (Municipality), NGOs and donors, CBOS

and the poor, private sector and Central Government have been identified as the main actors of the

program. There are briefly examined below.

Local government: Municipality of Cuenca

The role of Municipality in the CUAP is basically enabling other stakeholders to work in projects for

poverty alleviation, through co-ordination of activities and actors. In this way it has been identified the

need of coordination among legal and operational units from the government, such as ministers, units,

departments, etc in order to achieve real enabling processes (Wegelin and Borgman 1995: 142). The

Municipality has done a first step in this sense, which is creating a department within the local

government for coordinating all this initiatives to reducing poverty; an important and sustainablefeature of the process.

Generally speaking, role for municipal intervention in urban poverty alleviation identified by the UMP

(Urban Management Program), are around three main areas: regulatory framework, access to municipal

services and employment creation.

In this sense, the CUAP is fulfilling all of them in the way that:

- In the regulatory framework that affects housing and small enterprise development (Wegelin and

Borgman 1995:135), Municipality is elaborating a new legal and global framework addressing all

the components of the program.- About access to municipal services (includes water supply, sewerage, drainage, flood protection,

solid waste collection and disposal, local roads, public transport, street lighting and traffic

management, and other municipal services) the CUAP is improving the waste collection system

and cleaning of the environment.

- In terms of employment creation, urban poor incomes consist of the returns from their own labour,

since it is the main, and often the only, income-generating asset at their disposal (Wegelin and

Borgman 1995:146). In this sense, the CUAP is increasing income through organic production but

also reducing households expenditure on food, providing themselves for their own nutritional

needs.

The Municipality has used funds stemming from a project from HABITAT, for providing micro-credit

to people involved in the CUAP, against an annual interest of 2% (Best Practices 2000).

NGOs and donors

The role of NGOs and donors in urban poverty alleviation has become a major area of attention for the

international donor community since some years ago. In Habitat II, the UN Conference on Human


14/23

15

Settlements hold in Istanbul in 1996, this was one of the main action areas for the countries. The idea is

to focus in economic growth accompanied with satisfaction of basic needs, lets say: food, water and

shelter rather than just in the former. (UNCHS 1997).

In that sense, NGOs have comparative advantages in poverty-alleviation like effectiveness and

proximity to the poor, and working with their active participation (Wils 1990:16). Also NGOs are

crucial for organisations of grassroots and for income and employment programmes (Wils 1990:24).

All these features of NGOs suit with the CUAP NGOs and donors, which are in charge of promoting

community organisation and so on. In fact, most of NGOs working there were selected due to its

presence in marginal localities and/or their relationship with environment and income generation

activities.

Definitely NGOs have a positive response to poverty in Cuenca, and even if there is no measure of the

impact of the program among the poor, it is clear the importance of NGOs presence within the

communities and the city.

This response to poverty is achieved based on institutional capacities of NGOs working in the CUAP.

Most of them, with many years working on poverty alleviation projects and good accountability among

the civil society, have developed methodologies and techniques adapted and/or created for the local

needs, constituting the core of the organisational process of the CUAP.

CBOs and communities

When one refers to communities in development projects one may recognise who are included in

rights, activities, benefits and those who are excluded because they do not belong to the defined entity

(Cleaver 1999:603). In this sense, it is important to overcome the myths of community as the unitaryand powerful entity, in order to target properly the poorest within communities. More realistically, one

may see the community as the site of both solidarity and conflict, shifting alliances, power and social

structures (Cleaver 1999:604).

In this sense, communities participating in the CUAP have shown disparities in many aspects and some

of them have given up during the process. There are some points to address in order to understand their

response to poverty, among them the basic ones are their previous experiences in local processes with

NGOs and government, and the kind of leadership and organisational structure that they have

developed through the years.

But in terms of institutional capacity of CBOs, it is not possible to state they are ready for been in

charge of the whole CUAP. There are many deficiencies in terms of organisational structures, decision

making, delegation of power, accountability, technical skills and so more within and between CBOs

that make imperative the presence of intermediaries, namely NGOs or government. But the process of

empowering them has already started and CBOs need more space in terms of decision making within

the CUAP team and orientation. Furthermore, it is important to empower them with the legal

framework that would allow them to be formal part of the local and national process of development.


15/23


16/23

17

3.2. SWOT

Some basic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threatens have been identified within the CUAP

process, especially in terms of networking and co-operation among stakeholders.

Strengths Weaknesses

! Networking of NGOs, CBOs, private sectorand Municipality complementing local

capabilities among each other.

! Municipalitys political will that facilitatesthe process of networking as none of theother stakeholders could do, through

regulations, national and international

resources and so on.! Cultural traditions for organic farming

among the poor.

!

Funds coming from international donors(Habitat and others), NGOs and private

enterprise.

! Integral approach of different componentsof Urban Management, as well asaddressing the poor as producers,

consumers and citizens.

! Limited experience of organisations as ateam and in networking makes difficult the

process as well as involving new

communities to participate.! Limited knowledge about environmental

issues in staff of NGOs and private

organisations.

! Deficiency of a global municipal policyaddressing the entire production and

promoting local economy.!

Top down approach, not a response forpeoples demands but rather an initiative

from the local government. Decisions are

still handle by organisations and notcommunities.

! Lack of specific targets within the poor of

the city allows middle class groups to

access to benefits of the program, and notstrengthening the poorests participation.

Opportunities Threatens

!

Collective culture among communities andindigenous groups, with values of

solidarity, team work and equity/socialjustice.

! The legitimacy and convocation power of

the Mayor, as the main actor within the

Municipality, for networking and involvingcommunities to participate.

! Income from migrants living abroad could

be directed to sustainable projects to assurelong term well being and reducing

speculation within the city.

!

Lack of confidence and credibility betweenpublic and private institutions.!

Tendency towards institutionalprotagonism of organisations.

! Ecuadors political and economic crisis,

especially during process of dollarisation in

the country and implementation of otherSAPs

! Process of election of local government

next year (2002) could menace thecontinuity of the program.

! New regulations in International Migration

agreements will bring back around 20,000Ecuadorian for this year (2001), many ofwhich belong to Cuenca. This could break

down the dynamic that has been achieved

during the last years with the CUAP.

4. CUAP: Policy assessment


17/23

18

Assessing the Cuenca Urban Agriculture Program there have been identified some general features in

various way, and then there will be addressed its effectiveness, efficiency, equity and sustainability in a

brief manner.

The program was proposed by the Local government, namely Municipality, to the other stakeholders, in

first instance, the third sector organisations, then private sector, and finally to the community organisations.

In this way, it could be categorised as with a top down approach, not based on needs defined by poor

communities the final target- but based on needs identified by Municipality. This situation in itself is not a

problem, but it is important to clarify this point especially for the development of further phases of the

program, when enabling has been set as one of the main goals (Cruz 2000:19).

Therefore, one may not refer to the program as enabling poor communities because they are not allowed

to change structures or plans already fixed by CUAP team. But rather one may refer to processes enabling

third sector organisations to develop innovative actions addressing urban poverty.

In other way, in terms of production, it is not determined based on the demands of the market but rather in

the local capabilities that makes difficult sometimes marketing and commercialising the products due to a

overlapping of products between producers. Currently it is not an evident constraint but in the case of

expanding coverage of the program in the city and in other cities, it will become a more notorious concern.

About the problem of emigration from the city, the CUAP is addressing it in a very broad way, but is not

targeting the most disadvantages groups from this perspective, which is absolutely hardly to do it, due to

the illegal character of most of processes of migration.

4.1. Effectiveness

Unfortunately, there are no assessments done yet for evaluating impacts, results, effectiveness and so

on of the CUAP. Nevertheless, there is some data about the results that until now it has achieved within

the poor and the environment.

Until now, the program has been implemented in 18 urban neighbourhoods and 8 parishes from the

periphery of the city. Among them (direct beneficiaries), there are around 189 families (Best Practices

2000) and 400 producers of organic food, who sell their products in fairs and markets in the city (Cruz

2000:18). But the total number of beneficiaries is estimated to count up to 3,000 people (Best practices

2000).

These neighbourhoods have been identified as the poorest of the city, but there is no clear data about

targeting the poorest within the community, who usually do not participate due to time constraints,

illiteracy, and other informal requirements that discourage the poorest to be involved in collective

action.


18/23

19

In terms of the young disabled, they have been primarily targeted in the CUAP, but just those who were

registered in the Social Welfare Ministry. Therefore, it is assumed that not registered handicapped

people (usually the most vulnerable ones: illiterate, indigenous and recent migrants groups) are

excluded of this initiative, becoming an important even though small in number exclusion error.

But there is also some leakage in the program due to its voluntary character for participation, but there

are not official data about it. In that way, there have been identified some inclusion errors where non

poor people have been benefiting from this initiative, but CUAP team has not denied the entrance for

this groups in the sense that it is not reducing (in a significant way) benefits for the poorest.

But there are two big gaps in terms of effectiveness and reaching the poor: in terms of indigenous

groups, and women head of households, especially those with migrant relatives. Even if the program

aims to reduce migration and target disadvantages groups of this phenomenon, there is no clear target

to achieve this goal.

In terms of environmental poverty, the CUAP has also had a positive impact on the urban environmentthrough waste recycling, promotion of reduction of environmental contamination and reforestation in

under-utilised areas (Best Practices 2000). But there are still problems with soil degradation that urged

to give priority to the production of compost, so actually organic wasted is being recycled from 9 fairs

and markets in the city. And to support commercialisation, 4 fairs and markets have been established in

the city (Best Practices 2000).

4.2. Efficiency

In terms of efficiency, the CUAP is being executed making optimal use of local resources and

community support (use of organic waste materials, collective use of public and private under-utilisedlands, community and institutional contribution of seeds and materials) (Best Practices 2000). With

this multiple dimension, it is using all resources available in the city, especially due to its multi-actor

approach. Municipality is funding just one professional in environment and third sector organisations

are very well known for their optimal use of resources, basically coming from international donors.

Nevertheless, there have been identified two basic and important gasps in terms of efficiency. The first

one, is involving the media in the process of training and education about environment in especial, but

within the whole program in general. Media has always been identified as the main channel of

communication and propagation of experiences, and is a resource from the private sector, which can

also help to assure sustainability more than any other stakeholder.

The second one is involving indigenous organisations within the CUAP, especially to address

indigenous groups of the city and to rescue cultural experiences on organic farming, which usually are

more useful and suitable for local development. Historically, indigenous groups in Ecuador, as in the

rest of Latin America, have been closely related with agricultural development and political

participation, so in both senses, there would be very constructive to involve local indigenous

organisations in the whole process of the CUAP.


19/23

20

4.3. Equity

The aspect of equity is one of the weakest points of the CUAP, in the sense that is even targeting the

poorest is just reaching the low-income groups but not the poorest ones. But in terms of equity within

the city, it is improving living conditions of the population between the first and second quintile and

therefore, achieving some equity in relation with the upper quintiles; reducing the gasp between the

rich and the poor.

4.4. Sustainability

The municipality decentralised urban environmental management and productive land-use to an inter-

institutional working group (CUAP), therefore, a new dynamic has been created, where it was a

traditional paternalistic Municipality (Best Practices 2000). It is an important impact of the program in

terms of sustainability. In the same way, the CUAP has contributed to stakeholders to have a much

more integral vision on urban management, combining components of food production, povertyalleviation, participatory governance and urban planning and housing (Best Practices 2000).

The Municipality has also incorporated Urban Agriculture components in its laws and regulations such

as in the newly granted Permits for new constructions where it is stated that vegetal material that is

discarded will have to be used in the composting project (Best Practices 2000).

And in other sense, currently organic wastes are delivered free of charge to producers, but it is

proposed for a next phase to charge a differentiated payment for waste delivery to generate more funds

and assure sustainability of the program (Best Practices 2000).

5. Conclusions and recommendations

After an assessment of the CUAP in various dimensions, it is possible to draw some general conclusions:

In terms of impact on poverty alleviation the CUAP is an important and transferable initiative for doing so

and assuring food security, especially in intermediary cities and medium size ones, when they are not so

close to big metropolis and one may find some green areas to promote Urban Agriculture within the

locality.

Then, to address migration as it is one of the CUAP goals it is not enough promoting productive and

income generation alternatives, but rather it is needed a public- private partnership approach, where

authorities from migration (national and international levels) can be part of it. It is important to analyse the

structural causes of this phenomenon to address their consequences in a proper way.


20/23

21

And in terms of transferability, the CUAP has motivated the conformation of a city-working group among

5 Ecuadorian municipalities and in an international context, with other Latin American cities, as part of the

strategy of Latin American Urban Management Program (Best Practices 2000). Also a Urban Consultation

about Urban Agriculture and Food Security will be developed in some cities of Latin America, as a way of

improving the experience and searching for possibilities of transfer it to other cities of the region

(Dubbeling 2000).

Besides that, some useful recommendations should be addressed in order to improve the CUAP impacts

within the living conditions of the poorest and in general, within the city:

! Should be convenient to incorporate the media as one central actor especially for processes of

empowerment and enabling. In the same way, incorporating indigenous organisations would support

the whole process in a positive way.

! Even if the CUAP has a top down approach, it is advisable to adapt it into a more bottom up approach,

in the sense of giving communities the power for decision making for future steps.

!

Should be accompanied with a macro policy and legal framework supporting these and similarinitiatives, addressing urban poverty and economic development.

! In terms of targeting, it is possible involving more stakeholders, especially NGOs- to make it more

accurate with an extra effort, addressing the disadvantaged groups already mentioned in this paper,

with a gender perspective.

! In terms of production, it is important to get a balance between supply side and demand side oriented,

to make the program more efficient.

! There is missing a linkage between the CUAP team and the industrial park of the city. For future

phases, it is useful to connect them, in order to production can match the needs of the industrial park

and can reduce costs for both sides, and improves efficiency.

!

In the same way, it is possible to create a research centre for new varieties of product, with the supportof University and the private sector. Diversifying production can become more profitable and

sustainable in the long term.

Finally, one may wonder if the CUAP is a real attempt to reduce poverty with all the positive

consequences in this sense - or just an attempt from the Municipality to be part of an international

innovative program? The political background of the Mayor as the main figure in the Municipality is

absolute accountable from any perspective. But there remains the question of a future candidacy for the

Presidency. Is the Mayor expanding political relationships in an international context to walk-up the

national political stairs? And if this is the case, that is politics! Anyway, this has become an innovative

approach for poverty alleviation, and even with deficiencies in targeting the poorest groups and the mostdisadvantaged ones, it is giving some hope to thousands of people in Cuenca. In a time without hope, it is a

positive collective multi-dimensional effort that needs some adjustments but is achieving remarkable

results.


21/23

22

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bebbington, Anthony et al (1992)Actores de una dcada ganada. Quito: Comunidec. Chapter 1, 5.

Berner, Erhard (1998)Poverty alleviation and the eviction of the poorest: urban land transfer programs in

The Philippines.ISS Working series No. 282.

Chambers, Robert (1995) Poverty and livelihoods: Whose reality counts? In Environment and Urbanization

Vol. 7, No.1, April 1995. Pp. 173-204

Cleaver, Frances (1999) Paradoxes of participation: Questioning participatory approaches to development.InJournal of International Development,1999, Vol.11.Pp. 597-612.

Cruz, Mara Caridad (2000) Programa de Agricultura Urbana in Programas de la Municipalidad deCuenca.Cuenca: Ministerio del Frente Social. Pp. 12-19

De Wit, Joop (1997) Decentralization, empowerment and poverty alleviation in urban India: Roles and

responses of government, NGOs and slum communities.ISS Working series No. 267. Netherlands.

Dubbeling, Marielle (2000) La agricultura urbana como estrategia para un desarrollo sostenible municipal.

InBreves del PGU.No.5, May 2000. Quito: Programa de Gestin Urbana.

El Comercio (1998) 25 aos de un parque industrial.El Comercio newspaper. February 24, 1998. Cuenca.

Pp.1-A

El Comercio (2000)La migracin presiona a los precios..El Comercio newspaper. July 11, 2000. Cuenca.

Pp.4-A

El Comercio (1999) La emigracion aumenta en el Ecuador. El Comercio newspaper. April 21, 1999.

Cuenca. Pp.2-B

Helmsing, Bert and Joao Guimaraes (1997) Locality, State and Development. Essays in the honour of Jos

Hilhorst.The Hague: ISS. Pp. 107-129.

Hoy (2001) Emigracion, alta violacion a los Derechos Humanos.Hoy newspaper. June 10, 2001. Quito,pp. 12

Hoy (2001)La migracion como un negocio.Hoy newspaper. May 30, 2001. Quito. Editorial.

Hoy (2000)Pobreza y migracion los problemas del Azuay.Hoy newspaper. April 26, 2000. Quito. Pp. 2-A

Hoy (1999)La migracion imparable.Hoy newspaper. November 2, 1999. Quito. Pp. 2-A

Jackson, Cecile (1999) Social exclusion and gender: Does one size fit all? In The European Journal ofDevelopment Research. Vol. 11, No. 1, June 1999. Pp. 125-144

MARKOP (1997)Encuestas urbanas de empleo, subempleo y desempleo.Quito: Servidatos.

Martnez, Alexandra (1999) Consulta con los pobres en Ecuador. Informe final.Quito: CEPLAES, World

Bank poverty group.


22/23

23

Peltenburg, Monique (2001) Session on capacity building.ISS, May 30, 2001.

Satterthwaite, David (1997) Urban poverty. Reconsidering its scale and nature. In IDS Bulletin. Vol. 28,

No. 2, 1997. Pp. 9-23

Servidatos (1999)Ecuador database. Quito.

Surez, Jos and Dolores Lpez (1997) Development, environment, and health in crisis. The case ofEcuador. InLatin American Perspectives.Issue 94, Vol. 24, No. 3, May 1997. Pp. 83-103

UNCHS (1993)Public/private partnerships in enabling shelter strategies.Nairobi: UNCHS. Pp. 109- 140.

Vanderschueren et al. (1995) Policy programme options for urban poverty reduction: A framework for

action at municipal level. In Urban Management Programme.World Bank. Pp. 6-23.

Vos, Rob (2000) Ecuador 1999: Crisis econmica y proteccin social. Quito: Abya-Yala and Ministerios

del Frente Social. Chapter 1.

Wegelin, Emiel and Karin Borgman (1995) Options for municipal interventions in urban poverty

alleviation. InEnvironment and Urbanization, Vol 7, No 2, October 1995. Nottingham: Russell Press. Pp.131-151.

Wils, Frits (1990) Income and employment generating activities of NGOs: An overview. ISS Working

paper, No 88. Pp. 14-32

Wils, Frits and Bert Helmsing (1997) Shadow on the ground. The practical effectiveness of the Community

Development Programme.The Hague: ISSAS CDP study, Vol. 19, Part 2. Pp. 27-61.

Wratten, Ellen (1995) Conceptualizing urban poverty. In Environment and Urbanization, Vol 7, No 1,

April 1995. Nottingham: Russell Press. Pp. 11-36.

World Bank. World Development Indicators 2001. Washington.

World Bank. World Development Report 2000/2001 on Attacking Poverty. Chapter 1.

Best practices database 2000 (www.bestpractices.org)

www.explored.com.ec

www.hoy.com.ec

www.municipalidadcuenca.gov.ec/agricultura_urbana/homepage.htm

www.pgualc.org/publicaciones/


23/23

Cuenca Urban Agriculture

Documents

Transcript of Cuenca Urban Agriculture