Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas
Ecuador's palm oil capital since 1953; 40% of national cultivation, 165,000 jobs. Smallholders squeezed by monoculture expansion. By 2026, sustainability certification and Tsáchila land rights test whether agro-industry can accommodate marginalized communities.
Ecuador's palm oil capital traces to 1953, when American brothers Roscoe and Leal Scott planted Honduras-sourced seeds in La Concordia. Seven decades later, Santo Domingo contains 40% of Ecuador's oil palm cultivation (101,589 hectares in small properties alone). The province—named for the Tsáchila indigenous people but dominated by mestizo agriculture—represents Ecuador's most intensive agro-industrial zone.
Palm oil contributed 15% of agricultural GDP and 165,000 jobs (2013 data), but the sector generates controversy. Smallholders report pressure from expanding plantations: "I can't get out" captured farmers squeezed between palm monoculture and diminishing options. The province's 244,000 hectares of agricultural land (58% of territory) increasingly consolidates under palm and cocoa production.
Santo Domingo sits at the sierra-coast junction, making it Ecuador's internal trading hub. The 2024-2025 Open Government Partnership action plan and 2020-2030 Territorial Development Plan emphasize sustainable intensification—INIAP research partnerships, certified seed programs, fair trade promotion. But structural transformation remains aspirational.
2026 trajectory: Palm oil demand continues rising globally (food, biodiesel), but sustainability certification becomes market requirement. The province navigates between agricultural intensification and diversification. The Tsáchila people—whose name the province bears—remain marginalized from development decisions that transform their ancestral lands.