The Proposal

This year Ecuador is focusing on two attractive investment opportunities to expand the supply of high-growth and sustainable exportable products:  

• Dairy value chain development. 
• Agro-exports of organic products. 

Both investment opportunities will be oriented around four approaches: (i) boosting sustainable production, (ii) strengthening traceability systems to enhance l product quality, (iii) promoting increase production of added-value products, and (iv) expanding market access.  

The proposals are aligned with Ecuador’s 2024-2025 National Development Plan, which emphasizes the need for stronger and more dynamic relationships with commercial partners and investors. The Plan also seeks to drive sustainable productivity increases through expansion of the formal labor market, creating opportunities for decent work along its strategic value chains. 

In total, Ecuador's investment proposals will cost approximately USD 167.9 million, and bring both indirect and direct benefits to an estimated 234,470 people. The average internal rate of return (IRR) for these investments is 23.73%, whereas their average net present value (NPV) is USD 37.1 million. 

Ecuador Typologies

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Agro-informatics connects information technology with the management, analysis and application of agricultural data to design more accurate and targeted agricultural interventions. The use of new technologies and techniques in agriculture, such as satellite imagery, remote sensing, and geographic information systems, enable the transformation of data into actionable information.

Government of Ecuador: Investment cases in the Ecuador

Ecuador Investment Cases and Interventions

Dairy Products  90.3 Million USD 209,298 Beneficiaries

Dairy products

The dairy product investment case will comprise several key components. The first will focus on modernization, innovation and sustainable intensification of livestock production through improved practices such as regenerative grazing, silvo-pastoral pastures, and climate-smart cattle ranching. Investments will also help fund technology transfers to boost productivity and increase producer access to financial services.  

Next, advanced traceability systems based on blockchain models will be implemented to control product quality and traceability, improve transparency, and reduce informality. To expand value-added production, eight industrial facilities will be constructed and staffed across the target areas. This feeds into the final component, which will support the producers’ access to domestic and international markets via technical assistance, in the form of market and feasibility research. 

 As a transversal support mechanism, producers will enjoy facilitated access to financial services, ensuring stakeholder buy-in and program sustainability. These interventions will reduce informality across the value chain, promoting higher-quality dairy products and more value-added production. They will also help drive per hectare productivity for 431,038 heads of cattle.  

For this investment case, a total of approximately USD 90.3 million will be required. Ecuador's government is investing USD 15.7 million in this program, leaving a financing gap of approximately USD 74.6 million for which external investments are sought. These investments will directly support the livelihoods of 49,833 producers, and indirectly benefit another 159,465 people. Beneficiaries' per capita incomes are expected to increase by up to USD 8,131 per year, and the project's implementation will have significant environmental impact, reducing yearly CO2 emissions by as much as 936,234 tons. The IRR is estimated at 26.98% and the NPV is approximately USD 23.8 million. 

More details about the investment proposal and its relevant financial indicators will be provided shortly.

Organic Agro-Exports

Ecuador's investment case for organic agro-exports is anchored in a similar approach and will lead to sustainable increments of productivity and value-addition for banana, coffee, cocoa, quinoa, vanilla, and guayusa production. First, technical assistance and funding will be provided toward Territorial Development and research programs, intended to lower operational costs among producers, including technological solutions against pests and crop sicknesses. Further assistance will consolidate producers’ adoption of best practices in sustainable agro-production and organic certification.  

In support of market access, traceability and phytosanitary standards, the Traceability Management System will be consolidated for the coffee and cocoa value chains and scaled across other value chains. Two new certification laboratories will be implemented across the target areas. The implementation of nine rural cooperative enterprises will promote value chain industrialization, crop rotation, and overall value-added production, under inclusive and sustainable business models. This effort will help propagate producers to access new export markets. Technical assistance and funding will support six market research and supply-demand studies, as well as marketing strategies for organic products. Next, product equivalence agreements will be established with new export partners (namely in the European Union and United States). On a transversal basis, organic producers will receive a wider range of financial services, creating incentives for stakeholder buy-in to the program in the short and long-term. These interventions are expected to lower production costs and increase productivity across 19,429 hectares, add value to Ecuadorian organic value chains in a sustained manner, and catalyze an inclusive rural transformation. 

These investments are expected to cost approximately USD 77.6 million, directly benefiting 5,569 people and indirectly supporting the livelihoods of another 19,603 people. The Ecuadorian government is investing USD 5.1 million, leaving a financing gap of approximately USD 72.5 million, for which external investments are being sought. The estimated IRR is 20.48%, and the NPV is USD 13.3 million. Their implementation will lead to significant environmental and socioeconomic benefits, including a reduction of CO2 emissions by 25,654 tons per year. Across the banana, coffee, and cocoa value chains targeted, beneficiaries’ yearly incomes are expected to rise by 5%, 34%, and 16% respectively.  

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