Potential high-quality growing tea regions in Ecuador: an alternative cash crop for Ecuadorian small landholders.

Agriculture is the main way of subsistence for most of the population in developing countries. Crops that can increase their value with in-situ processing have a big impact in the small landholder's economies. Moreover, crops such as coffee and cocoa beans have been very important for Ecuadorian farmers. In this study, we wanted to analyze if there are the climatic conditions for growing high quality tea in Ecuador and determine the areas that will be less affected by global climate change in the future.We used a GIS based analysis, together with ecological niche modelling to determine areas in Ecuador where Ceylon and Nilgiris tea varieties could be grown, will maintain similar ecological conditions in the future, and have a high agricultural aptitude. In total, there are more than 150,000 hectares in Ecuador that could be converted to high quality tea plantations, most of them in the coastal provinces, with some specific areas in the Andean foothills.Ecuador has a significant amount of land with the potential to grow high quality tea, with no significant ecological niche modifications due to climate change in the long term future. Tea is a viable and potentially highly profitable crop for small land holders and should be considered by local stakeholders. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.