In the Imbabura province of Ecuador lies the beautiful Manduriacos Valley, a sub-tropical zone surrounded by primary forest and rich in bio-diversity. Life for the valley’s human inhabitants, however, hasn’t been easy. The continuing decline in farming income, poor infrastructure and limited economic resources have all had an impact on the 500 families that make up the area’s twelve communities. The most dangerous threat in recent years has been the emergence of gold mining in the area. With the inevitable river pollution and deforestation that arise from such activities, gold mining has had disastrous effects on the environment and poses a very real threat to the survival of the valley’s inhabitants.

Grassroots Action

In response to these problems, the people of the valley set up a cooperative, the Corporación Talleres del Gran Valle (CTGV) in 1998, to defend and protect their communities through Fair Trade and sustainable development practices. The organisation aims to create sustainable economic activities so that people don’t have to work for the mines or move away to find employment. Several micro-enterprises have been established and profits go into a shared community fund that benefits everyone in the valley. The shared fund provides micro-credit loans, pays a nurse’s salary and provides an ambulance service among other things.

Project Loofah

CTGV’s oldest and most established venture is the natural loofah project, which is based in the community of San Jose de Magdalena. Twelve local farmers and their families grow loofah plant vines which thrive in the valley’s sub-tropical climate. The plants are cultivated for the fruit’s tough fibrous interior, highly prized for its skin-exfoliating properties. After peeling, washing and drying the harvested loofahs, the farmers bring them to the loofah workshop, where the loofah is cut and stitched to create all kinds of useful, commercial products – from bath sponges and back scrubs to comfy slippers, mats and household accessories. Other local raw materials such as raw cotton, forest seeds and banana fibre are used in production as well. The finished products are then sold in the local market and marketed through national and international fair trade channels.

Loofah Products for sale

On our visit to Ecuador last year, one of our major priorities was to visit the fair trade loofah project and the communities of Manduriacos valley. Sadly, the only access road was closed off at the time, due to flooding (the valley does have a seven-month rainy season after all!). We managed to source some of their wonderful loofah products through Camari (a WFTO Fair Trade organisation), of which CTGV is a member. Currently available in our online shop are natural loofah bath mitts, sponges and foot scrubs.