Mallorca N24-275 y Ave.
Coruna
Quito
Tel: 593 2 2520408/2529372
Fax: 593 2 2507978
Contact: Mr Wilson Navarro, www.fepp.org.ec

Member of the International Land Coalition 2003

ARnet

Knowledge Programme

The Cost of Land Can Land Funds work for the poor? A learning experience from Ecuador
El costo de la tierra
- Outcomes and Lessons Learned

¿ Pueden los fondos pa ra la adquisición de tierras ser útiles a los pobres? Enseñanzas de la experiencia del Ecuador

FEPP's successful Land Programme. The Land Programme was meant to strengthen farmers' organizations, including those of indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorians, to facilitate their access to land, create jobs and increase incomes, in an environment of respect towards ethnic and cultural particularities. From 1977 to 1997, FEPP supported over 420 organizations in purchasing, recovering, registering and titling lands resulting in 13,700 families gaining access to over 426,000 hectares. The programme is nation-wide and participatory at all phases, project beneficiaries contributing from 10 to 20 percent to project expenses. The programme is viewed as the biggest effort made to redistribute land resulting in reduced social tensions in the rural areas.

Linking with Church and government's Central Bank. FEPP's Land Programme was expanded through a fund created from a debt for development swap of US$ 6 million, negotiated by the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference with the support of the Central Bank of Ecuador. Aware of the FEPP experience in supporting land access through loans to farmers' organizations, the European Union suggested and facilitated the debt scheme.

Knowledge generation for policy formulation. FEPP is presently analyzing and supporting new demands formulated by peasant organizations, to acquire more land.

Professional training school. FEPP runs a training school for the professionalization of young people from the rural sector to enable them to become effective and efficient leaders in all processes of change in their communities. The school also aims to link rural productive processes with financial markets. Training methods are based on learning-by-doing, where, from the very beginning, youth put into practice new their new capacities in concrete community activities. From 1997-2000, some 2,600 young farmers and professionals were trained in 24 fields of specialization, including, administration and management of rural companies; milk processing; fruits; meat; carpentry;artisan crafts; civil-construction and project administration.

Capacity-building through technical training
Financing land reform processes