The Andean Chakra is an ancestral agricultural system of the Kichwa Indigenous Peoples in the Ecuadorian Andean region. This outstanding system is characterized by the integration and interconnection of climates, ecosystems, agricultural practices and biodiversity at an altitude ranging from 2 500 to 3 400 m in the Cotacachi Mountains.

Based on the Andean beliefs system in which all elements are an integral part of each of the beings living on the ′Pacha Mama′ (Mother Earth), Chakras are living places where nature and Cotacachi’s communities have lived in harmony for centuries. They are at the centre of the development of material and symbolic life for Kichwa families and communities. They represent a space for experimentation and exchange and for the in-situ conservation of seeds, which is highly productive and conducive to achieving food sovereignty.