Cooperativa Ananda

We define ourselves as The Ananda Ecosystem which  seeks to build Sustainable Communities resilient to climatic change and to the post-COVID crisis. These communities will be able to produce their own food, medicine and energy. The long term goal for the project is to include at least one person from every family of the community in the value chain of the Cannabis Industry. 

To meet our vision, our first goal is to deconstruct the paradigms and stigma around the #Cannabis plant by educating and training the participating families in the history of Cannabis, its legalization, the relationship of cannabis with human rights, and in activism around cannabis and minorities.

Cooperativa Ananda is a small agricultural cooperative located in Chimborazo province, Ecuador. It was the first non-profit organization in the country to ask for a commercial cannabis cultivation license. At the date, Cooperativa Ananda has 2 licenses: One for cannabis seeds and cloning production (license type 2) and a second one for 5 hectares of industrial Hemp. In cooperation with the Asociación de Productores de Guarango y Frutales, ASOPROGF, we have received (june 2021) a small donation from Embassy of Switzerland for equipment to the laboratory for seeds and cloning.

Our projects will measure outcomes using a methodology called Social Return On Investment, SROI,  that incorporates social, environmental, economic and other values into decision-making processes. Every possible data will be traced using an open source software developed by Cooperativa Ananda. Trends will be analyzed and the implementation strategies will be adjusted to achieve sustainable results. Decisions will be based in data analysis using the SROI framework and will facilitate communication between all stakeholders. Also, SROI will provide tools for long-term evaluation of the impact.