ENCUENTS
Revista de Ciencias Humanas,
Teoría Social y Pensamiento Crítico
Universidad Nacional Experimental Rafael María Baralt
Maracaibo, Venezuela
N°Septiembre - Diciembre
Abstract
Radioactive tephra fallout, landslides, and incandescent rocks have
shaken the agricultural economy around the Tungurahua volcano in
Ecuador since at least 1999. The events of 2006 involved a narrative
offensive, based on the prevailing discourse of intervening inter-
national organizations, and a new credit policy, primarily aimed at
productive diversification. Documents from that period were com-
pared with two recent investigations: a geological-transdisciplinary
study from 2022, and a more recent investigation, prompted by this
research, in the town of Penipe. These investigations revealed that
not only the designed policy was not successful, but that there were
also no records of the strategic shifts chosen by farmers toward
monoculture and indoor animal husbandry in response to the need
to survive the pressures of the context and the uncertainty. The
study concludes with a reflection on the gap between the formal
intentions of the narratives of international organizations and go-
vernments (the formal narrative) and the situational reality on the
ground, for the design of future policies.
Keywords: Tephra rain, risk management, agriculture, public policy
evaluation, food security.
RESUMEN
La lluvia radiactiva de tefra, movimientos de tierra y piedras incandes-
centes han sacudido la economía agrícola alrededor del volcán Tungura-
hua, en Ecuador, al menos, desde 1999 hasta la fecha y sustancialmente,
hasta el 2014. Los eventos del 2006 implicaron una estrategia narrativa,
basada en el discruso predominante de los organismos internacionales
interventores, y una nueva política de créditos, fundamentalmente dirigi
-
da a la diversificación productiva y la reacción inmediata. Los documen-
tos de la época fueron contrastados con dos investigaciones recientes,
una de tipo geológica-transdisciplinaria del año 2022, y una investigación
impulsada por esta investigación en en tiempos recientes, en la localidad
de Penipe, revelando que, no solo la política diseñada no fue exitosamen
-
te implementada, sino que no hubo registros de las derivas estratégicas
escogidas por los agricultores hacia el monocultivo y crias techadas de
animales, frente a la necesidad de sobrevivir a la presión del contexto y
la incertidumbre. Se concluye con una reflexión sobre la diferencia entre
las intenciones formales de las narrativas de los organismos internaciona
-
les y la realidad en la escala situacional, para el diseño de políticas futuras.
Palabras claves: Lluvia de tefra, manejo de riesgos, agricultura,
evaluación de políticas públicas, seguridad alimentaria.
RECIBIDO: 14/02/2026
ACEPTADO: 19/06/2026
Narratives oN Natural disaster aNd
resilieNce: plaNificatioN vs. reality iN
post-eruptioN peNipe, ecuador
Narrativas sobre desastres naturales y resiliencia: planificación
vs. realidad en Penipe, Ecuador, en el contexto de erupción
volcánica
Geovanny Marcelo Paula Aguayo
Universidad Nacional de Chimbora-
zo. Riobamba, Ecuador.
gpaula@unach.edu.ec
Este trabajo está depositado en Zenodo:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21895459
Gabriela Stephanie Luna Machado
Universidad Nacional de Chimbora-
zo. Riobamba, Ecuador.
stephanie.luna@unach.edu.ec
Janeth Alexandra Morales González
Universidad Nacional de Chimbora-
zo. Riobamba, Ecuador.
janeth.morales@unach.edu.ec
Jorge Luis Gallegos Rodríguez
Universidad Nacional de Chimbora-
zo. Riobamba, Ecuador.
luis.gallegos@unach.edu.ec
ENCUENTS
208
ARTICULO
Geovanny Paula, Gabriela Luna, Janeth Morales y Jorge Gallegos
Narratives on natural disaster and resilience: planification...
INtroductIoN
We propose to explain that pollu-
tion (mostly tephra fallout) has res-
haped the agriculture structure of
the Tungurahua volcanic activity. This
process can be similarly recognized in
all the direct radio around the volcanic
activity, in the Province of Chimbora-
zo, Bolivar and Tungurahua, Ecuador.
This includes communities of Juive
Grande, Cuspua, Bilbao, Yuibug, El
Altar, Puela Choglontus, Cotaló, Pi-
llate, San José de Chazo, Sabañag,
Hualcanga, El Santuario y Santa Fé de
Galán. But it was possible to observe
protective differences, at least, in two
main factors: crop altitude and wind
direction.
Two main volcanic events shape
the narrative on this process, becau-
se its impact on agriculture, displa-
cement and migration: the 1999 fire
eruption and the August 2006 tephra
fallout cloud (Government of Ecuador,
been constant, producing uncertain-
ty in more than 26 years. The August
2006 event was specifically addres-
sed by International Organisms, State
credit strategies, and a very solid na-
rrative on how it had to be attended.
In order to avoid future risks, most
Official and International Organisms
narratives explained local agriculture
resilience through the idea of crop di-
versification: Farmers cannot “put all
the eggs in the same basket”.
But previous scientific researches
and our own interviews in Penipe
showed that there was not diversifi-
cation, but the opposite. Altitude and
underground crops demonstrated to
be more resilient, and because of it,
shed leverages (as “cuyeros”) and
white onions monocrops replaced
traditional crops, and the planned in-
tentions in 2006. Also the timing of
flowering, the height of the trees, the
natural barriers, the direction of wind,
the evolution of the local knowledge
on the phenomenon, the logics of
micro-credits, among other factors,
were not considered or fully conside-
red.
This situation not only opens a
debate about scientific approaches
to risk management in agriculture
but, mainly addresses the problem
of the divorce of social planning and
reality. According to local farmers,
normal narratives contradicted reali-
ty, which is a studied issue of Theory
of Games and Rational Choice (Cor-
nish & Clarke, 2010; Brantingham &
schools of political sciences remind
that planning management can repre-
sent institution interests rather than
communities. Communities also can
understand how institutions think,
and act persuasively, in order to get
the credits, or simply, not to generate
a conflictive situation.
The results of this process can
teach several possibilities. From the
interviews on the field, two of them
must be highlighted:
•
Public policies design on food
security and risk management,
as most of International Orga-
nisms does, have consolidated
narratives, based in a certain
common knowledge and shared
opinions, sold as specialized.
The stability of these narratives,
is linked to the stability of bud-
gets, credits, posts, and leaders-
hips in the international context.
To recognize errors or the simple
idea that logics of credits and
formal narratives can change,
stretched by logics of the situa-
tion, can be defiant. The need of
rapid answers and the stability
of presumptions generally play a
role against the situational me-
thodological approaches in qua-
litative social sciences, where
time is necessary to understand
the changes, and the quality or
people representations.
ENCUENTS
209
ARTICULO
Revista de Ciencias Humanas,Teoría Social y Pensamiento Crítico
N° 28 Septiembre – Diciembre (2026). PP: 207-217
•
The timing of the social change
among the actors of situation is
normally different to the institu-
tional timing. The existence of
ancestral or traditional views of
how agriculture, environment,
decision making and communi-
ties works, is not often consis-
tent to interviews, assemblies
and the leadership of specialized
advisors, as they usually act in
fields. But to ethnographies, par-
ticipatory observation and the
shape of the decision-making
process in the light of community
complexity and continuous and
long process involving nature.
This debate is not new: It can be
found and developed by the often-for-
gotten Situational Planning, and
Three Clocks theories, for instance.
In order to fix its argumentation,
this paper general idea is newly exp-
lained in the following figure:
Fig. 1. Graphical Abstract
tHe forMal NarratIve
The formal narrative on this problem
is aware of certain diagnosis: Volcanic
hazards frequently produce long-term
socio-economic disruptions in sma-
ll Andean cities. The 2006 eruption of
Tungurahua significantly affected the
all-around communities, steadily but
differently. In general, they have been
causing population displacement, agri-
cultural losses, and structural transfor-
mations in local livelihoods.
The solutions to these problems,
according to international organisms
and local governments, are related to
a general plan, based on credits and
accurate diagnosis of the problem
The Alcalde of Penipe, in 2009,
presented before the Community of
Andeans Nations their experience
on disaster management policies, in
the frame of the contest “Local de-
velopment practices and policies in
the face of disaster risks: Identifying
significant experiences in the Andean
subregion”. The name of the experien-
ce was “Desarrollo territorial del can-
tón Penipe: Previniendo las conse-
cuencias de la activación del volcán
Tungurahua
of the Penipe canton: Preventing the
consequences of the activation of the
Tungurahua volcano)” (Comunidad
The experience won the contest
in Perú. In the report, it can be read
the importance of the international
assessment:
between the first and second erup-
tions of the volcano, a series of social
and political processes took place.
These latter processes, linked to mu-
nicipal management, allowed for the
creation of strategic alliances with the
central government and internatio-
nal cooperation agencies, channeling
significant resources to projects, most
notably the relocation of the affected
population to safe locations (Comuni-
The experience is presented as
successful, three years after the 2006
event. It seems to have a specific suc-
cess in the productive recovery:
“Furthermore, these institutional sy-
nergies succeeded in changing the lo-
cal development approach in Penipe.
The municipality ultimately assumed a
managerial, planning, and facilitating
role, thereby regaining its leadership
position with respect to the popula-
tion and civil society organizations.
Territorial planning, resource manage-
ment for basic infrastructure, and the
development of a productive recovery
strategy following the volcanic erup-
tion were the key factors in develop-
ment and learning that emerged from
ENCUENTS
210
ARTICULO
Geovanny Paula, Gabriela Luna, Janeth Morales y Jorge Gallegos
Narratives on natural disaster and resilience: planification...
Politically, interinstitutional coo-
peration and community participation
seem to be the pillars that made the
experience possible:
“Evidence of these actions includes
the creation of a cantonal develop-
ment committee, the formulation of
the Institutional Development Plan to
strengthen the municipality’s mana-
gement capacity, the Comprehensi-
ve Economic Development Plan, the
Contingency Plan, and the ordinan-
ces, which constitute the institutional
framework for local risk management.
The participatory process implemen-
ted in the canton involved the Catholic
Church’s Center for Goiter Eradication
and Training for the Disabled (CEB
the Agricultural Technical Assistance
community-based organizations.”
After the management of the se-
curity issues, Penipe started the eco-
nomic recovery. International coope-
ration, local budgets and the National
Government assignation rose up to 10
million dollars. In a local context, whe-
re 600.000 USD constituted the con-
tribution of the municipality, 10 million
of dollars is a very important sum:
“In this regard, the management ca-
pacity achieved by the municipality
in the short term was also reflected
in the signing of several institutional
agreements, for which it allocated
-
-
national government, and the Credit
and Investment Fund for Emergencies
-
nicipality invested, on its own income,
same body undertook negotiations
with various ministries and interna-
tional cooperation agencies, which
a significant sum that, when invested
locally, helped to reactivate the local
-
This amount was located in the
stablished idea by international or-
ganisms of promoting diversity. The
approach is not examined in any si-
tuational context, because it comes
with the budgets. The narrative of the
FAO on these subjects is presented as
if the ideas came from a famer, Sera-
fin Medina, who always was “a resear-
cher”. On his experience, productive
diversity slogan is once again confir-
med, but no observed in time:
agro-diverse, however, he has always
been a researcher and for this reason
has been constantly preparing himself
in various areas, both livestock (befo-
re the eruption it was the main source
of income), as well as farm animals
(currently the main commercial activi-
ty), short-cycle crops and fruit trees,
which has allowed him to reduce the
risk of losses through diversification,
heeding the popular saying ‘Don’t put
all your eggs in one basket’, in addi-
tion to reducing the risk from the ma-
nifestations of the volcanic eruption
process and having a multi-threat
vision, such as: market price fluctua-
tions, agricultural product import po-
licies, increased prices of agricultural
inputs, periods of drought and lands-
-
This is the international orga-
the very well stablished narrative on
micro-credits, from the Mohammed
Yunnus experience and the arche-
types of entrepreneurships:
“To sustainably rehabilitate living con-
ditions in the area affected by the
shifted its strategies from those pre-
viously based on emergency support
to leveraging the knowledge genera-
ted by affected communities to reco-
ver from the severe impact. Previous
development programs had demons-
trated that small and medium-sized
producers have the capacity to utilize
credit and meet repayment deadlines,
leading to a productive reactivation
and a new cropping pattern resis-
tant to ashfall, as well as changes in
livestock. This initiative was develo-
ped through diagnosis and planning,
with a participatory and collaborative
approach; that is, it was the product
of a process shared with the popula-
tion of several communities. The pro-
posal took advantage of the farmers’
experience, who, based on observa-
tion processes, established new cul-
tivation patterns and technology, both
in the production of animals such as
ENCUENTS
211
ARTICULO
Revista de Ciencias Humanas,Teoría Social y Pensamiento Crítico
N° 28 Septiembre – Diciembre (2026). PP: 207-217
beef cattle, and in the production of
green and bulb onions, lupins, fora-
ge oats, and peas, which in previous
years showed resistance to ashfall”
The idea of production diversity
was stablished through criteria of re-
silience to ashfall, and not the market:
“The credit is targeted at specific
crops and livestock, identified throu-
gh a participatory analysis of agricul-
tural products that exhibit resistance
and resilience to volcanic threats. For
example, green onions are resistant
to ashfall, while the Toa bean variety
is highly resilient due to its flowering
type and period. The selected crops
include green onions, bulb onions, ca-
rrots, peas (black spot variety), broad
beans, Toa beans, lupins, and alfal-
fa. In the livestock sector, the credit
supports the purchase of cattle for
fattening, guinea pigs, pigs, rabbits,
dairy goats, sheep, and chickens.”
In this assumed idea of producti-
ve diversification, the Penipe govern-
ment explains the implemented pro-
ductive strategies:
“In this regard, the Comprehensive
Economic Development Plan for the
Penipe canton highlights the impor-
tance of having fresh resources in the
area: ‘Projects, whether mixed (with
municipal participation) or entirely
private, such as the meat processing
plant, the cheese factory, the shoe
factory, and the fruit pulp processing
plant, have become important bench-
marks for business and social enter-
Through institutional agreements,
financing is expedited for the cons-
truction of the physical infrastructure
that houses the following productive
projects: a meat processing plant; the
Taita Pacho mixed-economy marke-
ting company; facilities for collecting
dairy products, serving as the base
for the network of small-scale cheese
producers in the canton; a fruit pro-
cessing plant in Bayushig; and the first
phase of the Tambo Capil thermal spa
complex in agreement with the pro-
vincial council and the Federation of
Furthermore, independently, the creation
of the agricultural tractor production unit
was facilitated, along with projects for the
-
rrying, processing, and sales, and for the
manufacture of paving stones.
Regarding institutional initiatives, the
fruit sector was revitalized and linked
to the fruit processing plant.
In addition, four irrigation systems
were activated, a sewage system was
constructed in the communities, and
the water systems of three commu-
hydroponic fodder for animal feed in
greenhouses; Production of food for
affected families through hydroponic
cultivation. Construction of sheds for
milk production with housed catt-
Finally, the government of Penipe
in 2009 sees the eruption as the ne-
cessary experience to move producti-
vity forward:
“On the other hand, significant steps
have been taken to ensure that the
local authority fulfills a more structu-
red role in promoting local economic
development. In this regard, several
initiatives supporting productive eco-
nomic reactivation are being managed
with local funds. This same approach
has guided negotiations with interna-
tional cooperation agencies for the
channeling of extra-budgetary re-
sources.
Penipe is moving towards sustaina-
ble development, learning from the
lessons of Tungurahua, as well as the
knowledge and traditional wisdom of
its population
But finally, as we will see, despite
the progressive stabilization of volca-
nic activity, economic recovery and
territorial development remain une-
ven. Monocrops defined the produc-
tive horizon of communities, and local
development (nor social or economic)
did not arrive.
real IMpact of eruptIoNs
IN ecoNoMy. tHe tIMe
talKs
In 2022, several researchers pu-
blished in Volcanica, a journal from
the University Press of Strasbourg,
that most of the crops still were the
yellow tender corn, but that eruptions
made farmers to move to white onion
lists another group of crops, and gives
ENCUENTS
212
ARTICULO
Geovanny Paula, Gabriela Luna, Janeth Morales y Jorge Gallegos
Narratives on natural disaster and resilience: planification...
consensus around the idea of timing
of the crops (not just species). The
transcript information is from 2014,
but it is not related at all with the Pas-
toral/FAO statement that justified the
credits in 2006, as we read before:
“Potato, frijole, fava bean, tamarillo,
or blackberry were reported to be the
most sensitive crops to tephra. While
Tungurahua’s farmers could not rank
their crops in terms of vulnerability,
they conceded that white onion was
most resistant. The flowering stage
was unanimously perceived as a pe-
riod of extremely high vulnerability
for any crop. Frijole, fava bean, and
-
red to be particularly at risk if tephra
fall occurred during fruit growth or
fruit ripening, whereas corn was no-
tably sensitive to tephra when gra-
in started forming. When fruit trees
reached fruit set, significant damage
from tephra could occur, but the fruits
became less fragile as they grew (Fi-
Interviewees reported that tree fruits
became more resistant to tephra once
they had reached approximately half
two crops belong to the tuber crop
category, tephra deposition was re-
ported to impact potato significantly
but has a minor effect on white onion.
vulnerabilities to tephra depending
on skin traits; for example, peach and
apple are highly sensitive, whereas
greengage and tangerine are much
The apparent contradiction is rela-
ted probably to the fact that the 2014
researchers thought on crops diffe-
rently, worked with a well selected
and representative group of farmers
in 15 villages spread on the affected
areas (and not with Mr. Serafin Medi-
na, as the FAO did). Also, to the fact
that wind and altitude are important
factors to differentiate the effects of
eruptions, the kind of tephra (they
published 6 kinds and the “white fine”
was registered as the worst) and the
geological barriers of the tephra dis-
placement, as can be seen in this fi-
gure from the National Geographic
Institute of Ecuador:
Figure 2. A schematic idea of the
tephra displacement in 2006,
in the geological context (IGSB,
2016)
The most important contribution
also can be due to farmers who have a
more accurate comprehension of ge-
neral phenomenon, without the pres-
sure of receiving credits and budgets,
and adding more information to the
1999 and 2006 uncertainty. In fact,
the Volcanica journal offered a detai-
led and important comprehension of
the relation between crops timing and
vulnerability, we did not have in 2006,
as it will be seen in the next figure.
Figure 3. Crop calendar and vul-
nerability to tephra (Ligot et al.
2022, p. 168)
peNIpe: aN IN-deptH fIeld
researcH
From November 2024 to April
2025, we analyzed the socio-urban
ENCUENTS
213
ARTICULO
Revista de Ciencias Humanas,Teoría Social y Pensamiento Crítico
N° 28 Septiembre – Diciembre (2026). PP: 207-217
and productive dynamics of Penipe
in order to identify strategic planning
mechanisms capable of reactivating
local economies while strengthening
territorial resilience in a volcanic risk
context.
We designed a mixed-method
combining socio-economic analysis,
territorial diagnostics, and qualitative
assessments of urban infrastructu-
re, productive systems, and citizen
perceptions. The data also included
housing conditions, employment
structures, productive sectors, infras-
tructure availability, and governance
dynamics, indicators related to so-
cio-economic stratification, producti-
ve activity, and urban services scopes
The man research questions were,
Did Penipe improved local develop-
ment from August 2006, and, accor-
ding to local perceptions, Why?
Why Penipe?
Natural hazards increasingly sha-
pe urbanization patterns in vulnerable
territories across the Global South.
In volcanic regions, disasters often
generate long-term socio-economic
transformations that extend beyond
the immediate destruction of infras-
tructure and livelihoods. The inte-
raction between hazard exposure,
migration dynamics, and economic
restructuring frequently produces
new territorial configurations requi-
ring innovative planning strategies.
Penipe, located in the province of
Chimborazo in the central Andes of
Ecuador, represents a paradigmatic
case of this phenomenon. The canton
is geographically positioned near the
Tungurahua volcano and historically
has maintained strong agricultural tra-
ditions linked to its favorable climatic
conditions and fertile soils. However,
the volcanic eruptions that intensified
during the early twenty-first century,
particularly in 2006, generated wi-
despread environmental, social, and
economic impacts. Large quantities
of ash and volcanic material affected
agricultural systems, while repeated
evacuation processes forced thou-
sands of residents to temporarily
abandon their homes and productive
activities.
The eruption caused severe losses
in the agricultural sector, including
the destruction of crops and livestock
mortality, fundamentally altering lo-
cal economic dynamics. Approxima-
tely 19,000 people were affected in
high-risk areas, and agricultural sys-
tems experienced severe disruption
due to ash deposition and pyroclastic
material that interrupted crop germi-
nation processes (Comunidad Andina
Data sources
The analysis is based on a com-
prehensive socio-urban diagnostic
conducted in the urban and peri-ur-
ban areas of Penipe. The study area
includes the nine communities that
form part of the cantonal urban struc-
ture, including Nabuzo Alto, Nabuzo
Bajo, Gaviñay, Shamanga, Puchui-
quies, Penicucho Bajo, Penicucho
Alto, Ugñag, and El Guzo.
Data were collected through:
•
Household surveys
•
Field observations
•
Spatial analysis of urban infras-
tructure
•
Evaluation of productive systems
•
Analysis of institutional fra-
meworks
Analytical Dimensions
The research analysed several key
variables structured into thematic ca-
tegories:
Social Dimension
Indicators evaluated included:
•
demographic composition
• education levels
•
employment status
ENCUENTS
214
ARTICULO
Geovanny Paula, Gabriela Luna, Janeth Morales y Jorge Gallegos
Narratives on natural disaster and resilience: planification...
• socio-economic stratification
•
housing conditions
Productive Dimension
The productive structure of the
canton was analyzed according to the
classification of economic sectors:
•
Primary sector (agriculture, lives-
tock, fruit cultivation)
•
Secondary sector (small manu-
facturing)
•
Tertiary sector (commerce, tou-
rism, services)
Urban Infrastructure
Urban infrastructure was evalua-
ted through indicators related to:
•
Water supply systems
•
Electricity networks
•
Road infrastructure
•
Waste management systems
•
Telecommunications access
Governance and Institutional
Capacity
Institutional analysis examined:
•
Municipal management capacity
•
Citizen participation mechanisms
•
Interinstitutional coordination
Analytical Approach
The research applied descriptive
statistical analysis and comparative
evaluation of socio-economic indica-
tors. Relationships between variables
were analyzed in order to identify
structural contradictions affecting te-
rritorial development.
Results and Discussion
The analysis reveals a socio-eco-
nomic structure characterized by
strong dependence on primary pro-
ductive activities. Agriculture, fruit
cultivation, and livestock production
represent the dominant sources of in-
come for many households.
Despite this productive potential,
employment opportunities remain li-
mited and frequently characterized
by informality and low productivity
levels. These conditions contribute to
labor and income instability, particu-
larly among rural households.
Socio-economic stratification
analysis indicates that significant
portions of the population face eco-
nomic constraints affecting access
to housing, services, and educational
opportunities.
The productive system of Penipe
is structured around several key sec-
tors.
Primary Sector
The agricultural sector includes
activities such as:
•
Crop cultivation
•
Fruit production
•
Livestock farming
•
Poultry production
These activities represent the
backbone of the local economy but
face several structural challenges, in-
cluding:
•
Soil degradation
•
Vulnerability to climatic variabi-
lity
•
Limited technological innovation
Secondary Sector
The secondary sector consists
primarily of small-scale artisanal and
manufacturing enterprises. These bu-
sinesses play an important role in lo-
cal employment but remain limited in
scale and productivity.
Tertiary Sector
The tertiary sector includes com-
merce, transportation services, and
tourism activities. Tourism presents
a particularly opportunity due to the
ENCUENTS
215
ARTICULO
Revista de Ciencias Humanas,Teoría Social y Pensamiento Crítico
N° 28 Septiembre – Diciembre (2026). PP: 207-217
-
ral landscapes and volcanic environ-
ments.
Infrastructure analysis reveals
uneven access to basic services.
Although water supply and electri-
city systems are generally available in
urban areas, rural and peri-urban zo-
nes experience more limited-service
coverage.
Transport infrastructure also pre-
sents significant challenges. Road
networks connecting rural production
zones to urban markets require impro-
vement in order to facilitate economic
exchange.
Transversal problems
The diagnostic identifies several
key contradictions affecting territorial
development:
1.
Precarious employment opportu-
nities
2.
Degradation of agricultural soils
Insufficient productive infras-
tructure
These contradictions illustrate not
post-disaster recovery processes in
small cities exposed to the 2006 na-
tural hazards, and after, around Tun-
gurahua
Conclusions on Penipe condi-
tions
While emergency response and
reconstruction programs were imple-
mented from 2006, long-term eco-
nomic recovery has remained une-
ven. Many rural households continue
to rely heavily on traditional primary
activities such as agriculture, fruit
cultivation, livestock production, and
small-scale artisanal activities. These
sectors are characterized by limited
productivity, insufficient market inte-
gration, and still vulnerability to envi-
ronmental disturbances.
-
nomy remains strongly dependent on
primary activities such as agriculture,
livestock, and fruit production, yet
these sectors face structural vulne-
rabilities including soil degradation,
market access limitations, and in-
frastructure deficits. The socio-urban
analysis identifies significant cha-
llenges including limited labor offer,
limited diversification of economic
activities, underutilized infrastructu-
re, and uneven access to services. At
the same time, the canton presents
significant opportunities related to
agro-productive potential, tourism
resources linked to volcanic landsca-
pes, and strong community networks.
The socio-urban diagnostic of Pe-
nipe reveals that economic activity
remains concentrated in the primary
sector, with agriculture, fruit cultiva-
tion, livestock production, and sma-
ll-scale artisanal activities represen-
ting the dominant sources of income.
Diversification is mainly visible in the
subsistence crops, and some domes-
tic crops serving to the Penipe town.
But all the canton is a sort of inclined
valley, from the 2600 meters of altitu-
de at the Penipe town, to the 5260 of
the Cañóñigo peak, in the middle of
several big peaks in other cantons and
provinces, as the Chimborazo peack
(the highest in the world, according
to its proximity to outer space). This
position makes the Penipe region a
too much vulnerable valley to winds
and tephra. Because of the altitude,
the inclination and the strong winds,
white onions, an underground crop,
used to dominate the region produc-
tion from 2006. But now, because of
the soil degradation, and the inherent
ability of tephra to fertilize soils, far-
mers returned to tender yellow corn
and livestock grass crops. This would
imply a new cycle of agricultural and
food security crisis, if Tungurahua, or
any other volcano of the region, flood
the air with new tephra clouds.
The economic structure also in-
cludes secondary activities such as
ENCUENTS
216
ARTICULO
Geovanny Paula, Gabriela Luna, Janeth Morales y Jorge Gallegos
Narratives on natural disaster and resilience: planification...
small manufacturing enterprises and
tertiary services related to commer-
ce, transportation, and tourism.
At the same time, the territory
faces multiple structural challenges.
These include precarious labor oppor-
tunities, degradation of agricultural
soils (which is also compensated by
the same accumulated tephra), limi-
ted productive infrastructure, and de-
ficiencies in public services and urban
management. Such conditions reflect
broader contradictions in the territorial
development model, where significant
natural and cultural resources coexist
with socio-economic vulnerabilities.
Urban planning thus becomes a
crucial instrument for fostering eco-
nomic reactivation while simulta-
neously addressing risk exposure and
spatial inequalities. Strategic planning
must identify mechanisms capable of
linking productive systems with urban
infrastructure, improving connectivity
with regional markets, and promoting
sustainable crops and livelihoods in
time, in order to prove its relevance.
Strategic urban planning integra-
ting risk management, productive
diversification, and territorial gover-
nance can foster a transition towards
productive resilience in Penipe. But
it did not happen from the 2006 in-
terventions. White onion was then
contradictory to the crop diversifica-
tion strategies boosted by regional
credits and international organisms,
and nowadays yellow tender corn and
livestock grass are new forms of mo-
nocrops, which are naturally risky to a
new cycle of eruptions.
It is clear from the Penipe far-
mers point of view, that government
budgets and international organisms
planning was not related to reality,
nor to solutions. The whole approach
to local development is determined by
the opportunities of the market and
not sustainability.
Strengthening agro-value chains,
promoting tourism-based local eco-
nomies, and improving infrastructure
connectivity still are critical pathways
for achieving sustainable livelihoods
in the post-disaster Penipe canton.
GeNeral coNclusIoNs: tHe
IMportaNce of sItuatIoN
aNd tIMING
With the passage of time following
the terrible events experienced by
communities within the radius of the
Tungurahua volcano eruptions, from
1999 to 2014, it is possible to observe
how discourses that sound “good”—
that is, that seem coherent at a given
moment—may not be reliable or rea-
sonable bases for the design of public
policies. The two aspects that stand
out from this discrepancy, in light of
the information provided, are that so-
cial processes are inherently complex
and must be understood not through
attractive discourses standardized by
the political logic of official authorities
or international organizations, but ra-
ther through scientific evidence that
considers context, temporality, situa-
tional triangulation, and the appro-
priate use of scientific methodology.
Specific considerations are revea-
led in the two recent investigations
of the area, including that of the em-
blematic Penipe region, which should
have been fundamental to the 2006
policy (and to the 1999 policy, had
one been sufficiently articulated): a)
dogmatic use of the idea of
diversi-
ty, b) lack of understanding of each
-
tic use of the microcredit strategy, d)
lack of adequate sampling measure-
ment strategies, e) lack of participant
observation, or other ethnographic
strategies, to recover the temporality
of the culture and, with it, the real no-
tion of social change (not desired, but
possible), f) confusing the scientific
design of a policy with governmental
action, or the creation of offices, g)
absence of the components of altitu-
de, wind direction, geological protec-
tion, and tephra type in the analysis,
h) lack of understanding of the rela-
ENCUENTS
217
ARTICULO
Revista de Ciencias Humanas,Teoría Social y Pensamiento Crítico
N° 28 Septiembre – Diciembre (2026). PP: 207-217
tionship between soil types, tephra
fertilization, and real market pressu-
res, among others.
Such considerations not only re-
veal miscalculations but also the uns-
cientific use of public policy theory
and its actual formulation by specia-
lized sources (which are far from be-
ing the so-called specialized sources
in international organizations, which
tend to reproduce standardized and
dangerously axiological narratives).
In this sense, it is suggested that
the contributions of theories such as
Rational Choice (Cornish and Clar-
The latter, in particular, recovers the
notion of situation in diagnostic and
predictive analysis, while also integra-
ting it with the slower and more stable
timescale of social conjunctures, and
in turn, with the even slower and more
stable timescale of social structures.
This theory focuses on the need to
understand the timescale of things
and their symbolizations in order to
avoid falling into the characteristic
traps of metadiscursive illusion, which
substitutes poetic formulations for an
understanding of reality as it is.
It is the opinion of the authors of
this text that the experience analyzed
shows, in a fundamental way, the de-
velopment problems produced by the
poetic and attractive discourses that
populate the formulation of policies in
developing countries.
refereNces
Brantingham P. & Brantingham, P.,
Environment, routine. La Uni-
versidad de Michigan. Michigan: Sage
Publications, 1981, pp. 264
la predicción social, en Castro Aniyar,
Jácome, Cedeño Astudillo, Pontón
Cevallos, Arroyo Baltán, L. El futuro
del delito. Editorial Mawil. https://doi.
org/10.26820/978-9942-622-05-1
Rational Choice Theory. In F. T. Cul-
len, P. Wilcox (Eds.) Encyclopedia of
Criminological Theory
https://
doi.org/10.4135/9781412959193.n60
TCP/RLA/3217 Asis-
tencia a los países Andinos en la re-
ducción de riesgos y desastres en el
sector agropecuario. Departamento
de Gestión de Recursos Naturales y
la erupción más grande del volcán
Tungurahua: 16 de agosto de 2006.
https://www.igepn.edu.ec/portal/
tung10anios/intro.html
Ligot, N., Caiquetán, A.G.,
impacts from tephra fallout: insights
from interviews with farming com-
munities around Tungurahua volcano,
Ecuador. Volcanica
Sistematización de prácticas para la
gestión del riesgo por la erupción del
volcán Tungurahua. Departamento
de Gestión de Recursos Naturales y
-
ciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la
Alimentación
