Villagers of El Chilco de la Merced (3 200 m) in the province of Imbabura, prepare to plant trees on the hillside of the altiplano, part of an afforestation project using Pinus radiata. This work is carried out through the traditional Indian system of voluntary labour known as "mingas". - - WFP Assistance to Community Development. In October 1978, the UN/FAO World Food Programme (WFP) began a 3-year project, worth over USD 4 million, in answer to a request by the Government of Ecuador for aid to promote socioeconomic development in rural areas. Beneficiaries of the project, which provides 7 640 tonnes of wheat flour, wheat soy blended food, pulses, canned meat and edible oil, are volunteers engaged in rural infrastructure works in the Sierra provinces of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Tungurahua and Imbabura, in planting forest trees on over 5 000 hectares in the Imbabura Province to recuperate lands unfit for agriculture and in rural training courses. Beneficiaries engaged in infrastructure works and afforestation activities receive family rations for each day worked. Participants in training courses in communities receive one daily ration, and those attending courses at training centres receive two rations a day. More than 16 million rations are being distributed to about 100 000 beneficiaries over a 3-year period.