Agroecology in Ecuador has developed from its early stages as a little-known, incoherent response to the Green Revolution into a serious agrarian model, with key principles enshrined in the country’s Constitution and Food Sovereignty Law. This article provides a historical overview and analysis of this process, highlighting key actors, events and challenges. In particular this article reveals that the adoption of agroecology as a form of resistance by indigenous and peasant movements played a key role in its development. Furthermore, articulation between organizations, academia, and public institutions helped agroecology grow in conceptual depth, national reach and political influence. Nonetheless, as the stalled passage of the law on agrobiodiversity demonstrates, significant obstacles to implementation remain.