José Miguel Araque, a small farmer of the central highlands, had tried to make a living out of his crops.  He tried planting potatoes, strawberries, onions, and other products, but his expectations were never fulfilled, and the results were always poor.  He could never sell all his harvest or he had to lower the prices to levels imposed by intermediaries, which mostly controlled the market.  Some weeks ago, José Miguel began growing broccoli, as an alternative to the poor quality life he was having.  He now expects to have his first crop in two months.

Ecuador has been exporting frozen broccoli florets to the United States and Europe since the early 1990s. However, the industry has been predominantly in the hands of large producers in the Central Highlands.

Now USAID´s program is beginning to change this scenario, by taking several actions to incorporate small farmers into the bigger, international markets.  USAID is fulfilling this purpose, by helping the farmers to maximize production on intensive crops of broccoli;  helping them to work associatively among the different communities, and finally promoting the creation of functioning businesses that are turning around the economy of the area, and making it a more dynamic and productive zone, along with better living standards for the populations.

With Pronorte, the project is assisting 130 small farmers in 4 rural communities in the Province of Imbabura to plant broccoli on a weekly basis.  To avoid the market distortions of the intermediaries, the program has identified one large buyer, who receives the product of all the small producers from the area, who then inspects, processes, and freezes the broccoli.  These small suppliers currently ship the buyer 300,000 kilos of frozen broccoli per week.  The finished product is exported to the United States and Sweden.  
 
In May, the program brought together selected representatives from the community who formed a provisional board of directors and signed a contract with the buyer.  Pronorte is also providing the business with training to formalize the growers association and to provide the required continuity to this market-driven initiative.  The farmer's expectations are very high; since it is the first time they are producing for a fixed-price market, and also for an external market which is more demanding and pays better.

As a result of the success of this program, USAID will replicate it in other communities.  The mechanism is now working to establish a similar pattern of grower-buyer relationships with producers of artichokes, avocados, herbs and potatoes.  This will surely expand the opportunities created for these communities in Cotacachi, to other communities around the country.

José Miguel Araque´s life as well as his family and community, have surely improved since USAID intervened to cut the vicious circle of the small sized internal market/intermediaries/low price distortions, and introduced him into the export market where he gets a fair payment for his products.  This in turn, will save him the troubles of struggling with a diminished internal market and will promote the expansion of his agricultural business, raising his living standards, and providing him with an opportunity of a better quality of life for him, and his wife and children.