Independent review of Ekorural's 'Community Basket' Project in Ecuador: report prepared for the McKnight Foundation, Quito, Ecuador

Abstract

In February 2012, the McKnight Foundation contracted ICRAF to provide an independent desk review of the project Community Basket: A Rural-Urban Platform for Healthier Food Systems. Jason Donovan, a marketing specialist with ICRAF based in Lima, Peru, carried out the review. Phase 1 of the project had been implemented by Ekorural and partners in Ecuador between 2009 and 2011. The aim of Community Basket is to build an alternative system for the production and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables-a system where consumers recognize producers' need for improved prices and overall better marketing conditions and producers recognize consumers' need for improved access to safer and healthier food. These needs are reconciled through creating links between farmers, farmers' associations, and 'community baskets,' which are volunteer organizations that purchase and dispense food to urban consumers