The strategy in Ecuador is different, as efforts are directed toward gathering information on the status of cassava production and use in the country, and on stock-taking after several years of intense activities by national and international organizations seeking to empower cassava growers in Ecuador. On account of the CBN Coordination having been initially hosted by Ecuador, several different approaches have also been adopted, including the development and testing of PRGA tools.

The institutions and groups that have worked with the CBN Coordination in Ecuador include:

• Four Uniones de Asociaciones de Trabajadores Agricolas, Productores y Procesadores de Yuca (UATAPPYs) of San Miguel, San Vicente, Bijahual, and Bella Vista
• Universidad Técnica de Manabí (UTM);
• The CBN;
• Instituto Nacional Autónomo de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP);
• Universidad Politécnica Nacional (EPN);
• Consorcio Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Apoyo a la Investigación y Desarrollo de la Yuca (CLAYUCA)

Activities conducted included:

• A diagnostic study on the production and use of cassava in the Manabí Province. This pilot study aimed to update existing information on the status of cassava in Ecuador, particularly Manabí, which is Ecuador's principal cassava-producing area. The study specifically aimed to determine the components of the major cassava systems in Manabí and thus to relate cassava production and use with community social and environmental dynamics. In all, 650 surveys were conducted in Manabí and data analysis is still continuing.

  This study will serve as a reference point by which to evaluate the status of cassava projects that have already been executed in Ecuador. The study will also constitute a guide for developing the cassava-growing communities of Manabí, and provide baseline data for planning other development projects.

• Building agribusiness capacity, empowering women groups, and improving the standard of living of players in the cassava production sector. The CBN Coordination, together with its partners, took up the following specific tasks:
  • Develop gender-focused participatory processes for prioritizing activities in R&D, training, dissemination of technologies relating to local biodiversity, and using biotechnology in the handling of cassava, both before and after harvest
  • Define market characteristics, strategic alliances, technologies, and feasibility studies
  • Develop and implement a plan for the integrated management of the cassava crop, and for the diversification and marketing of cassava end products