Yanapuma foundation has adopted an integrative approach to sustainable development, which collaborates with local community members and local organizations to prioratize needs and implement focused realistic projects according to the resources available, always keeping in mind the interconnectedness of the socio-environmental situation. As a young organization we are just starting to work in our areas of focus. Currently projects are still being developed and relationships being fortified both within communities and with other local, regional, national and international partners.

Yanapuma works with communities throughout Ecuador, in the sierra, the rainforest, and at the coast. Our aim is to encourage sustainable development for marginalized indigenous and rural communities that will allow them to live dignified lives within the context of our globalized world.

Our work can be summarized along the following thematic lines:

Environment and Agriculture
Health and Well-being 
Sustainable Economies
Education and Capacity Development

Environment and Agriculture

In rural and marginalized areas the majority of the population works in agriculture. Often the prices they receive from the selling of their crops are extremely low and do not satisfy human development needs. In a competitive market with many people selling the same products it becomes neccesarry to find niche crops and improve agricultural practices to deliver more of a sustainable income to farmers. Also, with an increasing population it is crucial to find a balance between agricultural needs and the fragile Ecuadorian environment.
LINKS:
http://www.sica.gov.ec/cadenas/aceites/docs/la_agricultura_en_el_ecuador.htm
http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/index.asp?lang=en&ISO3=ECU

Cacao: Yanapuma Foundation works towards the promotion and formation of cacao promoters and cacao associations. In this process we work with local counterparts and beneficiaries to improve and make more sustainable their production methods with the future objective of commercialization for sale to fair trade, organic, and similar markets. The overall long- term goal is to sell this cacao to an international market where chocolate could than be produced, or go one step further and begin local production of chocolate for sale nationally and internationally.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9906E0DE1130E333A25757C0A96F9C94689ED7CF
https://www.gtz.de/en/aktuell/16363.htm
             
Sustainable agriculture: Yanapuma foundation aims to implement sustainable agricultural practices, minimizing theuse of harmful chemical products and farming methods and promoting the growing of organic crops. With prices at extremely low levels due to the nature of the market in Ecuador many agriculturalists barely make enough to get by. Yanapuma works with local beneficiaries to begin to improve production methods in order to receive a higher price in the national and international market. The overall objective is to promote a form of agriculture that does not use dangerous pesticides, works in concert with the environment and delivers a more just return for local agriculturalists.

Conservation: Ecuador is a country of extreme bio-diversity but also the country with the highest population density in Latin America. The achievement of a balance between this bio-diversity and the increasing population is of extreme importance for not only the future of Ecuador but the world.
                                              
Reforestation: Yanapuma foundation believes in the importance of a balance between agriculture and the environment. To this end reforestation is a crucial component of the conservation of what already exists and indeed the creation of spaces for a future, long-term balance to begin to take shape. We work with local beneficiaries to grow native tree species and then plant these trees to begin to reforest around agricultural areas as well as near rivers to protect water courses. We also work in local schools to demonstrate the importance of conservation, reforestation and general respect for plants, animals and the environment in general.

Appropriate technology: Yanapuma foundation, in collaboration with local counterparts, works in the development and promotion of appropriate technology to satisfy water and sanitation needs. Working with local people Yanapuma helps to design and implement the construction of ecological toilets, which conserve water and provide fertilizer for growing nutritious crops and plants. We also work with schools in the construction of worm farms that use their organic waste and composting bins to provide fertilizer, helping to educate children about the differences between organic and inorganic waste.
http://www.fodra.org/

Health and Well-being

In rural and marginalized areas of Ecuador health services are often extremely limited. The government is often unable to provide basic care for these people. Although there is often some medicine available for people there is almost a complete lack of preventative education. This leads to huge costs for curing illnesses when these costs could be removed by providing the capacity to prevent illness and disease before they occur.
http://www.who.int/countries/ecu/en/

Integrated health promotion: The Yanapuma Foundation aims to facilitate integrated health promotion through the formation of local health promoters in collaboration with regional health service organizations. This includes capacity development in preventive health practices such as primary care, nutrition, maternal care and safe water consumption. We also work to provide a space for the use of indigenous medicinal plants and methods alongside Western medicine practices. The objective of integrated health promotion is to improve well-being and promote a vision of health as holistic and participatory

.www.asociacionvivir.org
www.foundationhumannature.org

Economic opportunity

With the extremely low return from traditional agricultural methods and other forms of employment, rural and marginalized areas often find it very difficult to improve their economic situation. Because of this situation, innovative forms of economic opportunity need to be put into action. In Ecuador there is a growing market for community tourism and indigenous craft production. Also, the formation of small enterprises allows for local people to use their agricultural knowledge, cultural heritage and artisan skills to tap into local and national capital markets.

Yanapuma works with rural and marginalized communities in the formation of small enterprises and their integration into increasingly profitable markets, concentrating on community tourism, craft production and niche products.  By providing the training and technical assistance and facilitating access to capital and market linkages Yanapuma aims to help small producers and entrepreneurs maximize market opportunities. Yanapuma helps farmers and community members organize themselves in associations and cooperatives, approaching farming, tourism and craft production as a business and giving them the necessary tools to move across the entire value chain; from production and processing to marketing and financing.

Sustainable tourism
Yanapuma foundation, in collaboration with local counterparts, promotes the capacity of communities to implement small scale/low impact sustainable community based tourism projects, which use the natural and cultural resources of a community for the benefit of the community as well as the environment.

Agribusiness
Yanapuma takes a comprehensive approach to developing agricultural businesses across the entire value chain from production and organization to commercialization and marketing. Presently we are working with a cocoa group in Búa de Los Tsáchilas and are improving production and technical capacity as well as finding ways to integrate the group into national cacao markets. Yanapuma is also developing the capacity of small native tree nurseries that will provide alternative sources of income for local beneficiaries. Yanapuma believes that agricultural businesses must work in tandem with the environment at the same time as delivering an improved economic return.

Education and Capacity Development

Yanapuma Foundation believes that the sustainability of development interventions comes from the organization and capacity of the people themselves to continue to run the projects without the presence of the foundation. This necessitates a continual presence in the community working with motivated actors to realize the necessary building blocks for program development, implementation as well as monitoring and evaluation.

Capacity development exercises: In all of our projects we promote the organization of action groups with the capacity to lead and drive projects. By not only developing their capacity to plan and organize we also strive to have these promoters develop the capacity of others so that there is a continual formation and solidification of the basic building blocks to motivate future project development.

Education Curriculum Improvement: Yanapuma Foundation, in collaboration with local counterparts, continually aims to use the local school as a space for learning and dialogue with professors, community members and school children. We believe that change must come from the next generation in order for communities to be truly sustainable. With this long-term view we seek to build an educational environment that is truly context specific and based upon the belief that only through citizen engagement can change processes begin. To this end, we teach English and environmental education as well as work to make the curriculum more context specific in various rural primary schools.

All the communities that we work with have requested our help and are eager to receive our input in the form of particular short-term projects, long-term projects, training, technical help, national and international research students, individuals and groups of volunteers and cultural exchange visitors.