This is what an Agroecological Banana Farm Looks Like

By Brooke Edwards

October 3, 2019

Last Updated: August 31, 2011

Yesterday, I posted a couple of pictures I took of conventional banana plantations outside Machala, Ecuador. I think probably my favorite day in Ecuador was the day we visited Wilson Sanchez's agroecological banana farm, which was about as opposite from those plantations as you could get. It was so tropical, so diverse. Visually, it was the most interesting place I've ever been.

Driving to the farm. It's amazing how quickly the landscape changes in Ecuador.
A line up of the produce grown on the farms in the area
 at the processing station of the small-farmer group. It was a total feast of the senses.
The trucks took us as far as they could;
we were on our own to muck the rest of the way up to Sanchez's farm. 
You can see, there's a wide variety of trees and shrubs growing here.
Here is a banana plant (they're not actually trees) with a banana heart.
I'll show you a video of what happens at this stage tomorrow. 
Tropical paradise, no?
I couldn't stop taking pictures to remember how beautiful it all was.
Hello, frog.
Cocoa!
Up close.
Pigs (from Heifer).
Fermenting liquid compost, to be used as fertilizer.
Wild ducks! On clear water.