FAO’s work in Ecuador continues with the support of more than 70 agro ecological producers from the Manabí region to promote and sell their products at the first agro ecological fair ‘Agroraíces’.

This fair takes place every two weeks on Saturday, in the Portoviejo Forest Park. Its aim is not only to provide a market space to agro ecological producers, but also to promote and enhance consumption of healthy, diverse, sustainable and locally produced food, thus creating a healthy food environment.

The FAO initiative is part of the project ‘Feeding Urbanization: building prosperous small cities and towns’, carried on together with the Provincial Government of Manabí and the Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUNDES).

To strengthen this initiative, the local government is considering an institutional support to adopt public policies that enables access to knowledge, means of production, decent market spaces, and an appropriate audience for all citizens. In this roadmap, the province of Manabi should be soon declared a province of agro ecological production.

FAO's role is fundamental to achieve these outcomes, given its expertise and the virtuous examples already implemented in other countries within the Urban Food Agenda framework.