Peter Cook has extensive experience working on international development projects in Ecuador with diverse groups. He has found that the most successful projects leverage existing local assets, goods, and services that have cultural value for communities. By focusing on these existing assets and implementing sustainable agricultural techniques, projects can both conserve the environment and increase economic opportunities for rural people. At StartingBloc, he wants to share his experiences and collaborate with others working on social innovation around the world to develop solutions that can have broader global impact.

1. Peter Cook—StartingBloc
Application, BOS ’12
 How will you bring your
experience and knowledge to
enrich the StartingBloc
network?
◦ While working in
international development
projects in Ecuador, I have
had a wide array of
experiences, professional
and personal, that have
influenced me, shaped
me, and informed my
career choice and interests.
◦ Ecuador is a diverse
country. I have worked in
the mountainous region
with highland farmers, the
Amazonian jungle with
indigenous women, and the
coastal lowlands with Afro-
Ecuadorians.

2. Indigenous Shuar women’s
group learn market strategies
 In one project, I
worked with a
women’s group in
writing a marketing
plan for exotic tubers
that are traditionally
grown for subsistence
purposes only
 The project leveraged
traditional products to
incentivize the women
to practice
environmentally
sustainable growing
techniques

3. TRADITIONS MERGED
WITH MARKET A shuar woman singing a traditional chant to the fertility goddess.
TECHNIQUES A video of this was shown to prospective buyers and was
instrumental in displaying how the customs of the Shuar can be
taken into account in a market-driven project. Photo by Peter
Cook, Morona Santiago Province, Ecuador, 2011.

4. Afro-Ecuadorian Cocoa
Farmers
 I also worked in coastal
Ecuador with a cocoa farmers’
cooperative, on organizational
strategy and in helping export
the environmentally-friendly
cocoa product.
 Once again, we used an
approach that focused on an
asset the local people already
knew and worked with—
cocoa. Sustainable
agroforestry techniques were
implemented not only as
conservation practices, but as
a means for farmers to
increase production
yields, stressing an economic
incentive for the farmers.

5. Highland Indigenous farmers
 In another project, I worked at
impact monitoring and
evaluation, and visited
farmers’ cooperatives in the
Andean highlands.
 In my work evaluating the
success of different projects, I
came to realize that those
projects that are successful
are those that leverage assets
that the people already
have—products, goods and
services that already have a
cultural value for the people
themselves. In this photo, an
indigenous man shows me his
farm full of Andean lettuce
varieties that are unique to the
region, and that play a role in
his traditions.

6. Working with many
different groups of
people in Ecuador, I
have learned not
only to appreciate
cultural
diversity, but to
understand that
each group will
have its own
assets, and that
Peter Cook (center), with group of Afro- these assets need
Ecuadorian cocoa farmers after giving a
presentation. to be understood to
effectively engage
potential project
beneficiaries.

7. My Vision
 At StartingBloc, I want to share with others how
my experiences in diverse settings in Ecuador
have informed my vision and interest in social
enterprise
 I believe that long-term livelihood opportunities
for the rural poor are inextricably linked to
environmental stewardship.
 Environmental conservation cannot be done
without engaging the rural poor. Capitalize on
local products, goods and services that may
have market potential in the developed
world, and you have a recipe for
success, involving both profit, and a
social/environmental bottom line in the target
country.

8. What I can learn; what I can
teach
 My experiences have been concentrated
mainly in Latin America. I am eager to learn
firsthand about similar approaches to poverty
reduction and conservation in other areas of
the world.
 I have put into practice some concepts of
social innovation in Ecuador. But Ecuador is
just one country. Who else out there can tell
me about social innovation projects in other
regions of the world? Who can team up with
me to develop innovative solutions with a
broader global impact, using strategies that I
have learned in my field work, and ideas that
others have learned in theirs? I think
StartingBloc can help me to answer those
questions.