Producción del Sombrero de Paja Toquilla en el contexto del desarrollo local comunitario

Abstract

The artisanal production of the Toquilla Straw Hat in Ecuador is part of the country's identity, as declared by the National Institute of Cultural Heritage. The objective of the article is to explain the conditions for the artisanal production of the Toquilla Straw Hat in the context of a creative industry, which enables local community development. The research applies a mixed methodology, using participant observation, interviews and surveys as instruments. Furthermore, he used the method of unity of the logical and the historical to reconstruct the process of making said hat. The results expose the conditions for the artisanal production process, the different phases that its production goes through, as well as the problems present in its future, directly intertwined with the specific situation that is perceived, related to the precariousness of socioeconomic conditions. climatic factors, low level of associativity, scarce tourist and technological infrastructure, among the essential ones. It is concluded that there are precarious conditions from the socioeconomic, technological and productive perspective that stand as real obstacles in achieving the efficiency of the production process, elements that are significant taking into consideration the cultural imprint of this type of artisanal activity.