Agriculture has traditionally employed a large proportion of the population. Many rural Ecuadorans feed their families with the produce from their own farms; production of these subsistence crops, including corn (maize), potatoes, beans, and cassava (manioc), is important but not accurately reflected in official figures. Commercial production of grain crops has been discouraged by imports of inexpensive grains from the United States; these imports have also encouraged a shift in diet away from traditional corn consumption and toward rice and wheat. Production of tropical specialty crops such as bananas, cacao, and coffee have provided much-needed foreign exchange. Dependence on foreign imports of edible oil-producing crops and vegetable oils has been reduced through cultivation of the African oil palm. The airport at Quito has supported the development of international trade in such perishable but valuable highland products as flowers, strawberries, asparagus, and snow peas.

Livestock raising is widespread. Beef cattle are bred in the lowlands and dairy cattle and sheep are bred in the highlands; chemical fertilizers have aided the development of pastures for dairy cattle. Chickens consume feedstuffs produced from locally grown hard corn and other crops. Pigs are raised on a small scale, but their meat does contribute to the Ecuadoran diet, especially in the highlands. Goats are important as a source of meat in the south, while guinea pigs are raised for food in the highlands.

Only a small proportion of Ecuadoran territory has been reclaimed for cultivation, although unclaimed land is valuable as forest reserves and wildlife habitats. Chemical fertilizers are employed on commercial and specialized market crops, while traditional farmers employ animal manures; still, overall yields could be vastly increased. Irrigation has been employed since prehistoric times in the highlands, and most of the highland production by value is from irrigated fields and greenhouses, which have been deployed for the cultivation of roses, tomatoes, and papayas. There is little further potential for expanding the highland irrigated area. In contrast, irrigation has been expanding rapidly on the coast and aids rice paddy cultivation, banana, cacao, and oil palm plantation cultivation, cattle pastures, and mixed farming of a variety of crops. Currently such crops as tea, oil palm, and manioc are grown in the Amazon basin, but little is produced for export.

Forest and marine resources are also exploited. Traditional coastal dwelling construction is based on the native bamboo, and in the highlands pine and eucalyptus plantations provide fuel and construction material. A small-scale fishing industry operates mainly out of ports on the central and southern coasts. The major marine product, however, is shrimp, produced in large ponds constructed in coastal mangrove swamps, which thereby have been almost completely destroyed. Aquaculture in Ecuador has in turn been hindered by mangrove cutting—shrimp larvae and juvenile shrimp for aquaculture are either captured in the swamps or bred by hatcheries—and also by disease, severe flooding, land usage, and economic instability.

Resources and power

Ecuador’s major resource is its soil, which, with the country’s generally adequate rainfall and diverse climates, allows a wide variety of agricultural production. Particularly rich soils are found in the Guayas and other river floodplains on the coast and in the flats, floodplains, and volcanic slopes of the highlands.

The full mineral potential of Ecuador is still being discovered. There are gold deposits throughout the country and oil deposits in the northeastern Oriente. Explorations have discovered significant deposits of natural gas in the Gulf of Guayaquil, large deposits of low-grade copper ore west of Cuenca, and deposits of silver, molybdenum, iron ore, gypsum, zinc, and lead at various locations.

The Andes Mountains present some possibilities for hydroelectric development. However, the construction of hydroelectric plants through the Agoyan and Paute projects has presented serious problems of siltation. A government agency is responsible for the development of power resources.

Manufacturing

Industrial development in Ecuador is still in the early stages. Some industry is associated with the processing of primary products, including cement, refined sugar, chocolate bars, beer, pasta, bread, meat, fruit, and instant coffee. Some import-substitute industries licensed by foreign corporations have been established, including those producing pharmaceuticals and tires and those assembling automobiles. Ecuador has had some success exporting processed foods, such as fruit drinks and canned meats, to neighbouring countries. Ecuadoran woolen tapestries and sweaters; crafts in wood, straw, ceramics, leather, and tagua nut (used to make vegetable ivory); and Panama hats contribute to the economy. A textile industry focusing on the manufacture of sweaters and other clothing has developed in Atuntaqui in the northern highlands, but it faces competition from cheap Chinese textile imports.

Oil and gold are the country’s most valuable extraction products. Gold has been produced in Ecuador for centuries, and much of the production comes from remote districts such as Nambija in southeastern Ecuador, where thousands of families live with minimal services and the miners face hazardous conditions in tunnels subject to collapse due to torrential rains. Oil extracted in the northeast and sent over the Andes via pipeline has become Ecuador’s major mineral export, accounting for about two-fifths of export earnings and one-third of tax revenues. The state oil company operates in consortia with private and foreign corporations. Ecuador was a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) but withdrew in 1992.

Finance

The Central Bank of Ecuador and the National Bank of Promotion, both state-controlled, have branches in all the provincial capitals. The Central Bank is the government depository and controls the monetary system, while the National Bank of Promotion handles agricultural and industrial credit. There are many private commercial banks in Ecuador and a handful of foreign-bank branches. The bank supervisory board is a technical organization that monitors all banking activities. The national currency is the U.S. dollar, adopted by Ecuador in 2000.