This article analyzes the institutional barriers faced by Decentralized Autonomous Governments (GADs) and local actors in the Ecuadorian Amazon in accessing funding from the Common Fund, administered by the STCTEA—a mechanism aimed at channeling public resources toward sustainable territorial development. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study examines 926 projects submitted between 2019 and 2023 and surveys 58 key stakeholders in the province of Pastaza. The findings reveal a 78.4% gap between requested and approved funds, geographic allocation biases, and perceived exclusion related to technical requirements and decision-making mechanisms. Barriers identified include regulatory rigidity, lack of technical assistance, and the absence of redistributive criteria. Within the framework of institutional resilience, the study proposes a reconfiguration of the funding model based on adaptability, transparency, and territorial equity. This article contributes to the debate on organizational adaptation in highly complex contexts, proposing institutional reforms that strengthen the State’s capacity to manage development from an intercultural and redistributive perspective.
International Cooperation as a Tool to Achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals represents an alternative with tangible benefits evidenced over the years; however, its acquisition remains a challenge for municipalities in various provinces. The objective of this research was to analyze the management capacity of the Decentralized Autonomous Municipal Government (GAD) of the Rocafuerte canton, located in the province of ManabÃ, in obtaining resources through international cooperation organizations for the treatment of potable water in rural areas.The methodology included a bibliographic review of technical documents related to cooperation projects and the specific context of Rocafuerte canton. The research employed a qualitative approach, using the inductive method and a descriptive design to evaluate the management of international cooperation in this context.The results showed that the Rocafuerte GAD has a high level of institutional capacity and a high level of efficiency, with the latter being slightly higher than the former. This performance translates into significant alignment with the achievement of 100% of the objectives outlined in the Development and Territorial Planning Plan (PDOT) and the goals set for 2023, particularly in relation to the provision of potable water in rural areas
This article analyzes the implementation of the community conservation paradigm in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Shelter (RVS-GM ) between 1984-2007 from a political ecology framework, in order to establish the ties between this process and wider socio-political contexts. Along with semi-structured interviews to local and institutional actors, an analysis of institutional and organizations’ documents and newspapers was carried out. It is argued that more than reducing conflict between conservation and society, the community conservation policies in the RVS-GM represent State historical efforts to reaffirm sovereignty and insert the capitalist production mode in a historically isolated territory, in which dwellers are characterized for relatively autonomous lifestyles. Community conservation policies represent a specific temporal expression of those efforts within a neoliberal phase, which tried to reduce political and economic costs derived from controlling and transforming the shelter through co-opting conflict with promises of conservation and development, decision-making decentralization and the disguised anti-political State intervention without facing social and power inequality ended up reproducing the historical trajectory of exclusion and marginalization
This paper focuses on the results of the research carried out to determine the incidence of Fair Trade as a factor in reducing the poverty of small cocoa producers in the province of Los Rios, Ecuador. It also aimed to ascertain if there are guaranteed aid that will grant them a more direct access to the market for their products, under fairer and more equitable conditions. A mixed research design was used in the study. The qualitative activity was focused on observation, interviews, compilation of documents, registers, materials, and exchanges developed with cocoa producers to collect the information and know their criteria and opinions on the conditions and standard of living. This, however, was carried out from a quantitative point of view. The greatest amount of information was achieved through a structured survey with the application of a multivariate option questionnaire applied to a sample of 177 farmers. The main results obtained revealed that Fair Trade is a key element in reducing poverty levels as long as it is a fundamental part of the territorial development plans of Decentralized Autonomous Governments at all levels. Also, trade unions provide real support to farmers and they also assert their claims using a more continuous use of development premiums, adjustment of minimum guaranteed prices, and pre-financing.