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IntroductionThere is an urgent need to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly in low-and middle-income countries, where the greatest burden lies. Yet, there is little research concerning the specific issues involved in scaling up NCD interventions targeting low-resource settings. We propose to examine this gap in up to 27 collaborative projects, which were funded by the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) 2019 Scale Up Call, reflecting a total funding investment of approximately US$50 million. These projects represent diverse countries, contexts and adopt varied approaches and study designs to scale-up complex, evidence-based interventions to improve hypertension and diabetes outcomes. A systematic inquiry of these projects will provide necessary scientific insights into the enablers and challenges in the scale up of complex NCD interventions.Methods and analysisWe will apply systems thinking (a holistic approach to analyse the inter-relationship between constituent parts of scaleup interventions and the context in which the interventions are implemented) and adopt a longitudinal mixed-methods study design to explore the planning and early implementation phases of scale up projects. Data will be gathered at three time periods, namely, at planning (TP), initiation of implementation (T0) and 1-year postinitiation (T1). We will extract project-related data from secondary documents at TPand conduct multistakeholder qualitative interviews to gather data at T0and T1.We will undertake descriptive statistical analysis of TPdata and analyse T0and T1data using inductive thematic coding. The data extraction tool and interview guides were developed based on a literature review of scale-up frameworks.Ethics and disseminationThe current protocol was approved by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC number 23482). Informed consent will be obtained from all participants. The study findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and more broadly through the GACD network.

El art��culo aborda la comunalizaci��n del cuidado y el sostenimiento de la vida en condiciones de crisis. Partiendo de investigaci��n cualitativa acerca de los procesos de reproducci��n en una localidad perif��rica de la costa manabita tras el terremoto de 2016 en Ecuador, el texto discute la potencia y los l��mites de la acci��n comunitaria. ��sta se rearticula cuando lo que resguarda el diario vivir -cobijo, alimentaci��n, salud, educaci��n, agua, etc.- colapsa. Inmersa en un contexto hist��rico de explotaci��n laboral y territorial y de una limitada acci��n estatal, la poblaci��n pone en marcha din��micas de cooperaci��n y cogesti��n en distintos frentes, y transforma las que operaban previamente. Discutiendo con la literatura sobre cuidado, comunidad y com��n desde el feminismo y la que trabaja sobre vulnerabilidad, riesgo y desastres, la pregunta central que motiva la reflexi��n es: ��qu�� informa el an��lisis de este tipo de crisis sobre las pr��cticas comunales de reproducci��n social?, The article addresses the communalization of care and the life sustainment under the conditions of crisis. Based on ethnographic research on the processes of reproduction in a peri-urban costal site of Manab��, Ecuador following the earthquake of 2016, the authors discuss the potentials and limitations of community action. The practice of community-based care is re-constituted when the normality of daily life - e.g., shelter, food, health, education and water - collapses. Embedded in a historical context of labor and territorial exploitation combined with limited state action, the population sets in motion dynamics of cooperation and co-management on multiple fronts that supplants that which previously existed. With regard to the feminist literature on care, community and the commons and that on vulnerability, risk and disasters, the central question behind the reflection is: what insights does a period of crisis provide on community-based practices in social reproduction?

Colloque International Patrimonios alimentarios en América Latina : recursos locales, actores y globalización, Quito, ECU, 27-/10/2016 - 27/10/2016; En los últimos años, el uso de la noción de "patrimonio alimentario" se generalizó en América Latina, tanto entre los actores públicos como en las asociaciones y académicos. Con el objetivo de discutir esta noción, los autores de las contribuciones que conforman este libro produjeron reflexiones críticas para evitar la trampa de utilizar el "patrimonio alimentario" como un elemento de lenguaje cargado de romanticismo, coma suele ser el caso, a veces, en los circulos de activistas y en los discursos de gobiernos. Desde diferentes entaques disciplinarios, los trabajos empíricos publicados en este libro, producto de investigaciones llevadas a cabo en Argentina, Cuba, Bolivia, Brasil, Ecuador y México, constituyen un aporte clave para los estudios sociales que articulan los temas de la alimentación y del desarrollo. Así, la presente reflexión colectiva busca impulsar nuevas investigaciones y nuevos debates acerca de la utilidad de valorizar la diversidad de las prácticas alimentarias en América Latina a fin de enfrentar los desafíos de la soberanía alimentaria y de la economía local, de conocer mejor la biodiversidad y sus beneficios, y de reconocer la diversidad cultural regional a favor de una mayor inclusíon social de los grupos étnicos y de las minorías marginalizadas.

Modern food systems generate social inequalities in the access to healthy food, but some families maintain behaviors that provide an alternative to these systems. Agroecological consumers (ACs) and non-agroecological direct market consumers (DMCs) are key actors in alternative food systems. We assessed the characteristics of ACs and DMCs using data from a representative sample of households in Ibarra, Quito and Riobamba (n = 2914). We also deepened the exploration of motivations for adopting these practices through mini-ethnographies with families who were identified as ACs or DMCs (n = 15). We found motivations related to personal health problems, food quality (e.g., taste, freshness), and safety (e.g., avoiding pesticides) to be key. Other motivations were price and community solidarity with farmers. Barriers included inconvenience, lack of awareness, and insecurity of market location. Using Chi-square tests, we found differences between ACs and DMCs on place of residence, education, employment, health, and diet. Controlling for socioeconomic and health variables using logistic regressions, we found DMC dietary habits to be similar to the remainder of the study population, except that they were less likely to eat processed foods less frequently (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.6, 95% confidence interval 0.4&ndash, 0.9). In contrast, ACs were more likely than the remainder of the study population to control their salt intake (3.2, 1.9&ndash, 5.2) and have greater knowledge of nutrition labels (2.8, 1.7&ndash, 4.6). They were more likely to eat traditional foods frequently (1.9, 1.1&ndash, 3.3), fruit and vegetables daily (1.6, 1.0&ndash, 2.8), and processed foods less frequently (2.7, 1.5&ndash, 4.8). Hence, these two types of alternative food provisioning practices (AC and DMC) were adopted by different types of consumers, with heterogenous motivations and food consumption practices. These findings have implications for public health initiatives aiming to scale up the nutrition and ecological potential of alternative food systems.

This paper identifies spatial patterns of body mass index (BMI) and obesity in the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador, by applying spatial autocorrelation. We identified BMI hotspots in western rural parishes, and hotspots of obesity in northern urban parishes. We then explored associations between distances to food outlets, physical activity and smoking (independent variables), and BMI and obesity (BMI > 30) (dependent variables) by applying global regressions (GR) and geographical weighted regressions (GWR). Smoking was found to be significantly negatively associated with BMI and obesity. Distance to supermarkets was found to be negatively associated with obesity.

The sustainability of food systems is recognized as important, but to move towards sustainability individuals must play a larger role, becoming responsible food consumers. Based on diverse literatures and observed practices, the multidisciplinary Ekomer research team conceptualized responsible food consumption and designed a Responsible Consumption Index (RCI). The RCI was applied in a sample of randomly selected households in three city regions, or counties of Ecuador (Ibarra, Quito, and Riobamba) and in samples of individuals shopping at agroecological food outlets or fairs (open air markets). We describe the heterogeneous distribution of our RCI’s dimensions, the overall score across different populations and present some preliminary analyses of its positive relationship with daily fruit and vegetable consumption as well as table salt reduction practices. We reflect on the meaning of our findings and their implications for strengthening more sustainable and healthier food regimes in city regions.

This article explores the concepts involved in the term territorio , the nature of its uses and the interpretations given to it by different user groups in Latin America. In so doing, the authors find that despite its ubiquitous nature, polysemic use and its hybrid conceptual construction, territorio is a specific Latin American concept that can shed light on power relationships in space, triggered by the confrontation between global forces on the one hand and local, place-based, or “territorially anchored” groups on the other. The article unfolds across two sections. The first summarizes diverse conceptualizations of space, power, and locality, which are understood to be core elements of territorio, particularly when these are linked through actions, demands, or claims of a collective. The second section approaches the thematic contexts in which territorio and its associated concepts are used: as spatial entities of jurisdictional administration, appropriation by indigenous, afro and peasant communities, political demands and social movements, control-dispossession and reconstruction, spatial entities of assets, and place-based development. We argue that an understanding of the multiple uses and interpretations of territory in Latin America does not just reveal the uniquely nuanced ways of thinking about geography in the region, but it also raises questions over the possibility of a multiple construction of key geographical concepts. Resumen: Este articulo explora los conceptos envueltos en el termino territorio , la naturaleza de los usos del mismo y las interpretaciones dadas por distintos grupos de usuarios del termino en America Latina. Sostenemos que, a pesar de su naturaleza ubicua, su uso polisemico y la hibridez de su construccion conceptual, territorio es un termino especifico latinoamericano, que puede contribuir al analisis de las relaciones de poder en el espacio, activadas por la confrontacion entre fuerzas globales, por un lado, y grupos con “anclaje territorial”, por el otro. El articulo presenta dos secciones. En la primera se explican diversas aproximaciones a los conceptos de espacio, poder y localidad, que son elementos centrales para el entendimiento de territorio, particularmente cuando estos estan conectados a traves de acciones, demandas o reclamos de un colectivo. La segunda seccion aborda los contextos tematicos en los cuales territorio y sus conceptos relacionados son usados: como entidades espaciales de administracion jurisdiccional, apropiacion por grupos indigenas, afros y campesinos, demandas politicas y movimientos sociales, control-desposesion y reconstruccion, como unidades espaciales de recursos y desarrollo basado-en el lugar (o desarrollo territorial). Creemos que el entendimiento de los multiples usos e interpretaciones de “territorio” en America Latina no solo revela los distintivos matices del pensamiento geografico en la region, sino tambien, plantea cuestiones sobre la posibilidad de una construccion multiple de conceptos geograficos fundamentales.

Los Andes tropicales han sido declarados como una de las regiones mas vulnerables al cambio climatico. Procesos de reduccion e incluso de desaparicion de glaciares, asi como pronunciados cambios en los patrones lluvia estan actualmente afectando a la region. Nuestro trabajo ha sido desarrollado en la zona norte de la Sierra andina del Ecuador, en dos diferentes pisos ecologicos, Bosque seco premontano y Bosque muy humedo montano, en donde hemos analizado las percepciones de los agricultores y agricultoras de pequena escala sobre los cambios en variables climaticas que posteriormente contrastamos con los datos disponibles de series climaticas. Estudiamos tambien las percepciones locales con respecto a las causas de los cambios que estan ocurriendo y al nivel de riesgo al que se sienten expuestos los agricultores, explorando ademas las diferentes acciones que de forma individual o colectiva estan desarrollando para hacer frente y adaptarse a los cambios. Nuestro trabajo revela que las percepciones con respecto a los cambios en las variables climaticas concuerdan con la informacion meteorologica con que se cuenta, sin embargo, los agricultores en ambas zonas tienen muchas dificultades para predecir los cambios y consideran que no pueden estar preparados, solamente reaccionar antes los cambios imprevistos. La investigacion tambien subraya la debil organizacion local, que resulta en un aspecto clave en la construccion de estrategias adaptativas. En este trabajo se pone de manifiesto la importancia de la comprension de los contextos locales con el fin de disenar acertados programas de apoyo a la agricultura de pequena escala en los Andes ecuatorianos. Abstract: The tropical Andes have been declared one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change. Processes of glacial decline, including their altogether disappearance, as well as notable changes in rainfall patterns presently affect the region. This research took place in two distinct ecological zones of the northern highlands of Ecuador: premontaine dry forest and montaine wet forest. The authors collected and analyzed data on perceptions of men and women small-scale farmers with regard to the experiences with changes in climate variables. Subsequently, findings were contrasted with available official weather change data. In addition, the authors studied perceptions with regard to perceived causes of climate change and the level of risk, and the research explored different individual and collective coping and adaptation measures. The research identified that perceptions of climate change variables concurred with available meteorological data. Nevertheless, farmers from both zones had great difficulty predicting climate change and thought that they must not only be prepared to react to adverse events. The research also underlines local organizational capacity, necessary for the construction of adaptive strategies. In this work we manifest the importance of understanding local context with the end of designing intervention programs of small-scale agriculture in the Ecuadorian Andes.

Based on reflective practice over 15 years in Ecuador, the authors examine the perpetuation of knowingly harmful public policy in highly toxic pesticides. They study how actors cooperate, collude, and collide in advancing certain technological agenda, even when against public interests. Ultimately, entrenchment of perspective opened up space for arrival of new social actors and competing activity and transition. In light of struggles for sustainability, the authors find neglected policy opportunities in the heterogeneity of peoples' daily practices and countermovements, leading to a call for further attention to the inherently incoherent, complex, and irresolvable human face of sociotechnical change.

espanolRESUMEN Este articulo analiza los factores que fomentan la sostenibilidad de los circuitos cortos de comercializacion de la Union de Organizaciones Productoras Agroecologicas y de Comercializacion Asociativa de Tungurahua (PACAT), en Ecuador. Con base en revision documental, visitas y entrevistas a informantes clave, las autoras encontraron que la viabilidad de esta estrategia economica depende de la fortaleza de las instituciones informales que mantiene la organizacion social, lo que permite reducir los costos de transaccion, mejorando de esta manera la eficiencia economica. Es asi que los circuitos cortos de comercializacion pueden contribuir al fomento de la produccion agroecologica. Adicionalmente, el estudio indica los retos administrativos que las organizaciones enfrentan cuando intentan legalizarce. EnglishABSTRACT This article analyzes the factors that promote the sustainability of short circuits of marketing of the Union de Organizaciones Productoras Agroecologicas y de Comercializacion Asociativa de Tungurahua (PACAT) in Ecuador. Based on document review, key informant interviews and visits to their farms, the authors found that the viability of this economic strategy depends on the strength of informal institutions that sustain local organization and reduce transaction costs, thereby improving economic efficiency. In this way short circuit marketing can contribute to the proliferation of agro-ecological production. In addition, the study indicates the administrative challenges that informal organizations face when attempting to become formal, legal entities.

The present work reports the preliminary results about solid state reactions of Cr-ZnO solid solutions and ZnCr2O4 nanometric particles obtained with triethanolamine (TEA). Different compositions were prepared from 0.65 to 33.3 at % chromium, the last one corresponding to ZnCr2O4 cubic spinel composition. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) together with X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of powders with Cr3+ between 0.65 and 16.0 at % were assigned to Cr-ZnO solid solution due to the only presence of ZnO structure, FTIR spectra indicating that Cr-O bonding exists even if there was no presence of ZnCr2O4. With low chromium atomic percent, lattice parameters increase, but as the chromium content exceeds of 3 at %, there is basically no further expansion of the cell. From Williamson-Hall and Rietveld methods the lattice dimensions were assigned to chromium incorporation in ZnO structure and the lattice contraction by particle size refinement. After annealing all samples from 0.65 to 16.0 at % at 400°C in oxygen, the analysis showed that nanoparticles of Cr-ZnO solid solution still remain.

"En este trabajo se modeló el efecto de materiales compuestos en la atenuación del campo eléctrico en aisladores nocerámicos. Compósitos de hule silicón y polvo de BaTiO3 se prepararon y caracterizaron para determinar sus valores de permitividad dieléctrica relativa (K). Dichos valores se usaron para modelar la distribución de campo eléctrico en un aislador de 115 kV a frecuencia nominal y también bajo la acción de un impulso de rayo normalizado. Se encontró que en un aislador con una K=8.31 obtenido con 60% en peso (%wt.) de BaTiO3, la reducción del campo eléctrico tangencial no es significativa si el aislador posee un diseño típico, sin embargo, se demuestra que la combinación de un cambio en la geometría de su perfil junto con valores de K que pueden obtenerse sin dopar el BaTiO3 permite reducir considerablemente el campo eléctrico máximo en la vecindad de los herrajes bajo los dos tipos de tensión."

The contribution of community-based interventions, including farmer field schools (FFSs) in integrated pest management (IPM), to reducing pesticide exposures and associated neurotoxic burden among small-farm families in Ecuador was assessed in three Andean farming communities in a co-design of targeted action-research. Baseline questionnaire surveys elicited pesticide-related knowledge, practices, and exposure and neurobehavioral assessments were done using an adapted WHO battery. Pesticide applications on plots farmed by FFS versus non-FFS participants were compared. A year later, repeated surveys of participating households (n = 29) and neurobehavioral testing of individuals (n = 63) permitted comparisons of pre- and post-intervention values. The FFS graduates applied pesticides on their plots less frequently (p = 0.171). FFS households had increased pesticide-related knowledge of labels and exposure risk factors (both p < 0.004), better pesticide-handling practices (p < 0.01), and less skin exposure (p < 0.01). Neurobehavioural status had improved, particularly digit span and visuo-spatial function, resulting in overall z-score increases. Thus, community interventions reduced pesticide use, reported skin exposure, and neurotoxic burden among smallholder farm families.