To characterize the traditional systems of small pig producers in Jipijapa (Manabí, Ecuador) and to classify farms into representative categories, we interviewed fifty-five farmers from seven communities considering four dimensions: social, organizational, production methods, and local food resources. Multiple correspondence analyses and hierarchical clusters were carried out using the Ward method. The analysis differentiated communities based on social, productive, and local resource variables, showing three factors that accounted for 85.3% of the total variance: the socioeconomic dimension, related to the welfare of families, explained 34.4% of the variation, the care provided to animals explained 30.9%, and the management practices for the supply of food explained 20%. We identified five clusters that shared common characteristics: Group 1 included farmers from Albajacal, wage workers, and Creole pig breeders, Group 2 included farmers raising pigs under lockdown conditions, Group 3 typified traditional farms from the La Cuesta community, Group 4 included landowners, and Group 5 included professionalized farmers in Colón Alfaro. We also studied the supplied alternative food formulations made up of crop surpluses. The role of small pig farmers is a social activity linked to the location, the crops of each area, and the specific practices for the care of animals.

Pork production in Ecuador is of significant economic and nutritional importance. Many of these operations are family- or backyard-based and utilize alternative feed ingredients to reduce production costs. The current study aimed to determine the chemical composition of cooked cassava and taro, and to evaluate their inclusion in the feed of backyard pigs during the growth and fattening phases. A total of 42 castrated pigs from two geographic locations in Ecuador were studied over a period of 100 days, during which their weight and measurements were recorded at three-week intervals. At the end of the experiment, ileum samples were collected from the slaughtered pigs in order to calculate the apparent digestibility of the feed. The crude protein levels of cassava and taro were found to be 3.2% and 2.1%, respectively. The combination of cooked cassava and taro was found to be a suitable replacement for corn, with the best results observed in the group receiving a diet incorporating 21% each of cassava and taro. Analysis of the ileal content also revealed that this group exhibited the highest nitrogen assimilation from the diet.

Ecuadorian small producers use crossbred animals with a low level of genetic improvement, which are fed with alternative feeds to decrease production costs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of geographical location and three diets according to the amount of cassava and taro incorporated into the feed (T1 conventional feed; T2 and T3 with 32% and 42% of cassava and taro, respectively) in pigs reared under the backyard system. The results did not show many differences between the treatments for morphological traits; however, between geographical locations, significant differences were evidenced. The fat content from the first rib was higher in the T1 group. The intramuscular fat percentage was higher in the T1 group, contrary to the protein levels, which were higher in the T3 group in Esmeraldas and the T2 group in Ro Chico. In the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and its attached organs, differences were found in the empty stomach weight, full and empty small intestine weight, liver weight, and total GIT weight, with the T2 and T3 groups having the largest and heaviest. Cassava and taro did not affect the morphometric behavior and quality of the carcass but increased the amount of protein in the meat and the weight of the GIT. Geographical location was also observed to have a significant effect.