Fortalecimiento de redes sociales colaborativas campo-ciudad a través de una alternativa de gestión asociativa: estudio de la experiencia de la RAA y actores locales urbanos en Cuenca

Abstract

The study of linkages between agro-producers and urban actors involved in of agro-ecological products commercialization implies noticing the way rural and urban sceneries are linked. Considering unequal socio-economic structures that subordinate farmers to practices that perpetuate their impoverishment, there is the need to strengthen alternative associative approaches based on principles such as autonomy, care for life, solidarity and equity. The objective of this work was to propose an alternative associative management approach between agro-producers and local urban actors, to strengthen rural-urban collaborative networks. The study was based on the diagnosis of associative strengths and weaknesses around Red Agroecológica del Austro’s experience and local actors from Cuenca in 2021. A methodology with an ethnographic approach was proposed, approaching the object of study as a social system in which a network of actors and relationships underlies. The actors involved in the short-cycle

agro ecological commercialization experience were identified and also their socio- organizational dynamics and systemic structure. Based on the findings, an associative

management proposal was planned which contains strategies aimed at achieving objectives related to the principles of agro ecology for social transformation: sustainability and sustainability; equity of relationships; autonomy and care for life, with a view to its application in medium and long term.