Period: November 2005
Client: ODI

Research paper prepared by Francisco Ayala and Susana Ponce analyzing the effect that increased exports of Ecuadorian flowers has had on poor families since the early 90s.

In order to write the research paper, the authors analyzed evolution trends, access to foreign markets, as well as the macroeconomic contributions made by the sector. The authors documented positive and negative social impacts such as reduced levels of poverty, increased child labor, disease among workers and violence/abuse to workers especially women.

This analysis included a SELBEN Proxy (which is a system used in Ecuador for identifying and selecting beneficiaries in any given social project). The authors proposed specific policies for the Government to support Ecuador’s flower production sector.