To mark International Women's Day, we are shining a light on the Shuar women who form the Tsapau Agricultural Association, based in the central-southern region of the Ecuadorian Amazon. These trailblazing women are leading the way – restoring biodiversity, promoting ancestral practices, and providing sustainable microfinance for their communities. 

While the world expects women and young people to create change, Indigenous women like Raquel and Tarcila are already living examples of this. Their voice is heard by all members of Tsapau. They set up and coordinate a savings and investment fund and assume the enormous responsibility of ensuring that the profits translate into benefits for their local community – the people of San Luis de Inimkis Shuar Center in the province of Morona Santiago.

The Tsapau Agricultural Association is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity in the Amazon. Its work focuses on the Aja Shuar (garden), which is its ancestral form of agriculture, but its mission goes far beyond production. The women promote agro-biodiverse practices, soil regeneration, protection of pollinators and conservation of the Amazonian jaguar ecosystem while respecting and implementing ancestral knowledge.

Creating a microfinance system

For many years, members of Tspau had difficulties accessing loans as their form of collective land ownership did not meet the requirements of the traditional financial system and members did not have a job in a dependent relationship. But these women did not sit idly by. They decided to start their own savings and investment fund with three lines of credit: productive, educational and emerging. Currently, three women are at the head of this initiative which has had great success in its first months of management.

Gherda Barreto, FAO Representative in Ecuador, talks with Raquel about the impact that the savings and investment fund has had on the community

Initially, Tspau was only accredited to market honey, but over the years they have diversified their production. With support from the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF), which included reforming the organization’s statutes to include new value chains and updating their tax registration, Tspau have been able to formalize their economic activities. Currently, they are working on obtaining the necessary registration to access new markets.

Embracing new opportunities
As part of the process of strengthening their cooperative, Tspau participated in an exchange with another association on the Ecuadorian coast. Here, they expanded their knowledge of native bees and the technical aspects of beekeeping. This inspired them and now Tspau have expanded their offer of bio-enterprises to include the production of native bee honey.

In fact, one of the first loans that the investment fund gave was for a beekeeping bio-enterprise led by young people from Tsapau. Through financial education, they developed simple follow-up mechanisms that allow them to monitor the growth of their business. They believe in their community and seek to generate new opportunities through the marketing of sustainable products and agrotourism.

The Association participated in a workshop on gender, climate change and food security as part of the technical assistance provided by the FFF

Visiting Tsapau reminds us that empowering Indigenous women can triple the impacts of investment with positive effects on sustainability and all its dimensions: social, economic and environmental. Their microfinance mechanism also successfully promotes the conservation of natural heritage and appreciation of cultural heritage while energizing the local economy. The creation of this first savings and investment fund reflects the tenacity and commitment of the Shuar leaders who are already making history.