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Assessment of the impact of an international multidisciplinary intervention project on sustainability at the local level: case study in a community in the Ecuadorian Andes

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Abstract

In the community of San Ignacio in the Ecuadorian Andes, an intervention project was carried out with the aim of improving their socioeconomic capacities through different actions designed with the inhabitants in a participative manner. In order to analyze the effect of the actions undertaken, the impact on sustainability before and after the intervention was evaluated using the framework for the evaluation of natural resource management systems (MESMIS). Twelve indicators were selected to measure the project's areas of influence on the performance of the 22 production units and the capacities of their managers. Of the 12 indicators, the perception of empowerment indicator is proposed for the first time within the framework of the MESMIS program as a strategic indicator to explore in depth the factors that influence gender equality. Based on the differences found in these indicators, it could be seen that the intervention had a positive effect on the sustainability of the system, significantly improving the indices referring to functional biodiversity, mainly due to women’s activity, and access to technological innovations. Although the actions did not appear to significantly influence gender equality, the new proposed strategic indicator leads to a greater understanding of gender perspective, which meant that factors such as dread, independence and satisfaction improved after the intervention process. Lastly, a medium- and long-term evaluation is recommended in order to confirm the effects of the intervention project within a suitable timeframe.

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Adapted from Hernández-Maqueda et al. (2018)

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Agencia Andaluza de Cooperación Internacional (AACID), the Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi (UTC) and the Universidad de Almeria (UAL) for funding the project "Strengthening the socio-economic empowerment capacities of two rural communities in the canton of Latacunga, Ecuador, through a process of participatory action-research (IAP) and agro-industrial training", code 2016DEC003. We also thank the community of San Ignacio, specifically the Warmy Mikuy association, for their openness and willingness to share knowledge, as well as Monica Guisha and Leonela Iza for the fieldwork.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi, Av. Simón Rodríguez s/n, Latacunga, Ecuador

    Rafael Hernández Maqueda

  2. Facultad de Ingeniería y de Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador

    Isabel Ballesteros Redondo

  3. Facultad de Ciencias de La Educación Y Humanidades, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca, Spain

    Bianca Serrano Manzano

  4. Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi, Av. Simón Rodríguez s/n, Latacunga, Ecuador

    Lourdes Yessenia Cabrera Martinez

  5. Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas, Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi, Av. Simón Rodríguez s/n, Latacunga, Ecuador

    Patricia Hernández Medina

  6. Departamento de Agronomía, Área de Ciencia del Suelo, Universidad de Almería, Almería, Spain

    Fernando del Moral Torres

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  1. Rafael Hernández Maqueda
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  4. Lourdes Yessenia Cabrera Martinez
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  6. Fernando del Moral Torres
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the design and conceptualization of the project. RHM and IBR designed the actions related to the promotion of biodiversity; BSM and LYCM designed the activities related to the training program to work on the different dimensions of women's empowerment; PHM designed the activities related to accounting literacy; and FMT supervised the activities designed to promote agricultural productivity. The measurement and subsequent evaluation of the indicators were carried out by all the authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by RHM and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rafael Hernández Maqueda.

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Hernández Maqueda, R., Ballesteros Redondo, I., Serrano Manzano, B. et al. Assessment of the impact of an international multidisciplinary intervention project on sustainability at the local level: case study in a community in the Ecuadorian Andes. Environ Dev Sustain 23, 8836–8856 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00997-3

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