With the gaze, identity, and heart set on the homeland
The story of Alfredo Guamaní from Pichincha, Ecuador.
Coming from a family of producers, Alfredo Guamaní earned his degree in gastronomy, which allowed him to open his restaurant and stand out as an entrepreneur in the region. He is also part of the Chocó Andino Youth Network in Pichincha, Ecuador, northwest of Quito.
“It was through cooking that I felt I belonged more to my locality, closer to my homeland.”
Gastronomy strengthened his identity and reinforced his bond with the region. This bond intensified when, in the midst of the pandemic (2020), he realized, along with his colleagues in the Network, that there were people who faced obstacles in getting food on a daily basis. How was it possible that a land available for agriculture could not provide for the city, let alone the countryside itself?
A community store
This is the immediate origin of La Chala, a community store that eliminates intermediaries and opens doors for rural youth. It supports agro-ecological producers by ensuring a fair and consistent marker for their crops, and provides educational and employment opportunities for young people, especially for youth that are forced to leave their homeland in search of opportunities in the city.
La Chala offers young people the chance to apply their knowledge for the benefit of the region, whether in administration, design, logistics, or communication. The idea is not to prescribe fixed programs, but offer youth the option to decide themselves how they want to contribute with their talents. In addition, the Network has decided to designate part of the profits to a fund that will support more young people in their training, expanding the circle of opportunities and strengthening the future of the territory.
Future plans
La Chala‘s horizons extend far beyond its first store in Calacalí. The Youth Network dreams of a store in each locality in the Biosphere Reserve, creating a network of spaces that decentralize opportunities and multiply benefits in the region.
Aiming to open 11 new stores, the Network members want more communities to strengthen their local initiatives and support young people to find agro-ecological entrepreneurship as a real option for transforming their lives. Thus, what began as a collective project has turned into a path to the future. As it was for Alfredo, he now takes pride in being able to say: “This is my store, and these are my products.”
Young people like Alfredo see La Chala as a way to reclaim their identity and dignify work and education in the countryside, inspiring others to organize and build their dreams without leaving their communities. This project reflects the essence of our Urban Futures Program: empowering young people and recognizing them as agents of change, while inviting city residents to value the countryside and join in the transformation of the food system and the territory, a process that can only be achieved as a community.
“I imagine La Chala as a platform connecting urban and rural areas, allowing for the strengthening of more personal relationships between producers and consumers.”
