Different market alternatives to improve the marketing of small corn and rice producers were analyzed by Ecuador’s Rural Territorial Dialogue Group.

This space for reflection is framed within the framework of the Siembra Development Project. Smallholder agriculture and food resilient to COVID-19 , funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada.

The initiative focuses on agrifood systems in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador and Chile to understand how the coronavirus has affected family farming and food security in urban-rural territories in Latin America and to move towards more sustainable, inclusive and resilient agrifood systems.

At the most recent meeting of the Group, the director of Rimisp’s office in Ecuador, Carol Chehab, presented the results of an investigation that brings together alternatives for the competitive improvement of small corn and rice producers, as a complementary work to Rimisp’s previous study on productive diversification to improve producers’ income.

These products have suffered variations in their production levels and prices due to the post-pandemic, the fertilizer and agricultural input crisis and the government’s decision to negotiate and sign several international trade agreements.

As for Ecuador’s export potential, the country has markets with greater sales potential in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, as well as Iraq, Haiti, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and the United States, among others.

On the other hand, the markets with the greatest demand for domestic production are the Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Iran, Iraq, Canada, Haiti, China, Mexico, among others.

The Andean countries, as well as the Caribbean, Chile, China, the Philippines and Russia are the countries with which it is easiest to trade rice and corn.