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Ecuador
Food and Nutritional Sovereignty System
(Sistema de Soberanía Alimentaria y Nutricional)
Ecuador's food sovereignty system is a coordinated network of communes, communities, peoples, nationalities, social organisations and state actors that develops public policy proposals. Its participatory body, the Plurinational and Intercultural Conference on Food Sovereignty, is nominated by social organisations and works closest to rural producers.
Institutional set-up and structure
Established in law in 2009, the System links individuals, communes, communities, peoples and nationalities with social, institutional and state actors in the participatory development of policy proposals. The Plurinational and Intercultural Conference on Food Sovereignty sits within it as the participatory body, with a presidency drawn from civil society. Coordination with government runs through the Ministry of Agriculture and its undersecretariat for family and peasant agriculture. A later restructuring reduced the number of independent civil society representatives on the Conference.
Mandate and decision-making power
Its mandate is to develop public policy proposals on the food sovereignty regime for submission to the relevant ministry for approval; to coordinate between civil society and the different levels of government on production, marketing, distribution, processing and responsible consumption; and to promote compliance with the Organic Law on the Food Sovereignty Regime. Proposals require ministerial approval to take effect.
The System is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):
Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue
Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; coordinating policy development; developing policies for consideration by the relevant authorities
Who is involved
Government: the Ministry of Agriculture, including the undersecretariat for family and peasant agriculture, and the state development bank
Civil society: communes, communities, peoples and nationalities, and the social organisations that nominate the Conference
Producers: small and medium producers, irrigation and farmer associations
Development partners: United Nations agencies providing technical support and facilitation
Academia
How it works in practice
Policy proposals are prepared for submission to the relevant ministry
Roundtables and dialogues are convened with academia, social organisations and producers, most recently in 2025 with the Ministry of Agriculture and a United Nations agency
Participants register for thematic tables, each with guiding questions and a moderator
Data is gathered by individual organisations rather than consolidated nationally
Turnover of staff and authorities affects continuity
Opportunities for improvement
Continued engagement with academia, social organisations and producers through roundtables would widen its base
More stable resourcing would allow the Conference to carry out the work it has planned
Consolidating data collection across organisations would give a clearer national picture
Evidence base: key informant interviews and policy documents, 2026. Last updated: September 2026.
Strengths
Established in law, with its own statutes, regulations and legal protections
Represents the distinct needs of Ecuador's regions, from the Amazon to the coast
Focuses attention on small and medium producers, covering irrigation, production and traditional knowledge
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