A peasant in our country has so many obstacles to undertake! This is a result of the lack of financing, technical support to translate his business ideas and, above all, due to the difficult access to important markets.

Young people in rural areas may have all the necessary attributes to carry out their initiative: leadership, responsibility, organization, ability to adapt to change, but if they do not have the necessary resources to build and develop their projects, they cannot move forward.

While in the cities, local governments or private companies create spaces or communities of "entrepreneurship and innovation", with incubators, mentoring and seed capital, the peasant is committed to creativity, risk, to open paths in an adverse environment with requirements and regulations that slow down the development of their initiatives, limiting them to coexist in informal markets.

One of the essential characteristics of Salinas de Bolívar since its inception and until today, is to bet on entrepreneurship. Small experiments took place on the ground floor of Padre Antonio Polo's house and little by little they took shape, grew stronger and became a reality.

The townspeople learned and took risks to produce, to add value to local raw materials. Not all the experiments were successful, many failed and resources were lost. Trial and error has been and is what we always do when deciding to start with a new challenge or product.

Some things have worked and are around for more than four decades. It is important to recognize that in the beginning they received technical and resource support, as a result of which we have the emblematic cheeses.Now, with their own resources and capabilities, other products of the Salinerito brand are gaining ground such as chocolates, sausages and threads.

But it is not only startups led by organizations that work. The productive ecosystem of Salinas gives the opportunity for family or personal initiatives to arise, proof of which are the tourist services: hostels, restaurants, tour operators and guides, events for extreme sports ... Many of these are operated by young people from the town.

In high altitude communities, between 3,600 and 4,200 meters above sea level, several small enterprises are also sprouting, replicating the initial experiences of Salinas, making cheeses, sausages, nougat, hand-woven garments ...

You will find rural communities that learned to find their own market, to create and define their brand, to manage their small enterprise and market their products: empowered peasant women and men opening their tray in the world of entrepreneurships.

On weekends, several tents are placed around the central square of the parish head of Salinas. It is a small fair, where the young people of the town and the communities exhibit and sell their products and novelties to the tourists who visit us weekly.

In this small rural fair you can find all types of products: liquors, jams, dried fruits, granola, craft beer, essences, soaps, wool and cabuya crafts, aromatic herbs, ointments, balls, ceramics ...

Most of these Products cannot grow and expand through formal markets, because in Ecuador it is necessary to strengthen public policies and programs focused on supporting young farmers. Many good ideas fail for lack of support.

From El Salinerito, we seek to articulate alternative promotional ventures through points of sale and the e-commerce platform, but not all products that have good growth potential have yet fulfilled the legal requirements for their commercialization.

The pandemic is teaching us that one of the great strengths of a country is in the countryside, where food is produced and the land is cared for. With comprehensive attention to the farmer, the farmer can change many realities in a positive way ...

Motivation, self-determination and patience is what Salinas transmits to you. The total replicability of this experience can be complex, but starting with something is undoubtedly the first step that you must dare to undertake.