The Contribution of Family Agroecological Gardens to Food Sovereignty in Rural Communities in Bolívar, Ecuador

Abstract

This study analyzed the contribution of family agroecological gardens to food sovereignty and the conservation of agrobiodiversity in the community of Gradas Grande de Vinchoa, San Simón parish, Guaranda canton, Bolívar province, Ecuador, at an altitude of approximately 2,800 m above sea level. A mixed-methods approach with a descriptive-exploratory scope was employed, using semistructured interviews, surveys, and ethnobotanical field surveys with 42 rural families selected through purposive sampling. The results allowed for the inventory of 37 plant species distributed across 19 botanical families, of which 14 were traditionally used medicinal plants and 23 were food crops. The Asteraceae and Lamiaceae families contained the greatest diversity of medicinal species. Seventy-eight point six percent of the informants identified the garden as the household’s primary source of food, while 83.3% attributed the day-to-day management of these productive spaces to women. The predominant agroecological practices were crop rotation (90.5%), the production of organic fertilizers (76.2%), and the management of native seeds (69.0%). The qualitative analysis revealed a community perception that links productive autonomy to cultural identity and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. It is concluded that family agroecological gardens function as multifunctional systems that integrate food provision, in situ conservation of germplasm, and the reproduction of ancestral knowledge, constituting a concrete strategy for food sovereignty in rural Andean territories.