As climate change escalates across the world, the effects have begun to adversely impact many communities’ agricultural practices, access to food, and understanding of their environment as they now experience it. One such country experiencing these difficulties is Ecuador, whose food sovereignty has been greatly impacted by climate change. Our sponsor, Marisol Peñaloza and her organization, Cultivando el Futuro, tasked us with aiding in their goal of increasing food sovereignty. We participated in their project of helping with the distribution of greenhouses to rural communities outside of Cuenca, Ecuador. We aimed to assess current agricultural practices and obstacles affecting crop success. This provided the foundation to create our deliverables; an online Agroecological Guide of resources local to each community and a Manual of Greenhouse Best Practices in order to educate farmers on adapting their techniques to the new realities of their climates. Our findings with locals, interviews, and participant observation identified a need for education on water conservation, crop diversity, climate change, and modern technology, which were highlighted in our Manual of Greenhouse Best Practices. Additionally, future recommendations were provided to our sponsor, which included increasing the accessibility of our educational resources, ensuring longevity of our deliverables, providing stable contacts for the greenhouses, and hosting educational workshops based on our manual.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Dolley, Julia
• Vargas, Celeste
• Woodward, Sophia
• Sola, Emilia

Subject

• Food
• Well-Being
• Sustainability
• Innovation
• Water
• Environment
• Community
• Health
• Learning

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-050124-122630
• 122284

Keyword

• Ecuador
• Climate Change
• Greenhouses
• Food Sovereignty
• Agriculture

Advisor

• San Martin, William
• Strauss, Sarah

Year

• 2024

Center

• Cuenca, Ecuador Project Center - IQP

Sponsor

• Cultivando el Futuro
• Marisol Peñaloza
• Ruby Moss

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 2 - Zero Hunger
• 3 - Good Health and Well-being
• 4 - Quality Education
• 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
• 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
• 13 - Climate Action
• 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Date created

• 2024-05-01

Resource type

• Interactive Qualifying Project

Source

• E-project-050124-122630

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Last modified

• 2024-05-17