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Report 1 of 5:
Shortage
to Surplus - Honduras
Introduction
Ten years ago, farmers living in Lempira Sur in Honduras could barely produce enough maize, beans and sorghum to feed their families. In 1998, when Hurricane Mitch hit the country, the same farmers provided tonnes of emergency food aid to their fellow citizens in other parts of the country.
The credit for this dramatic turn around goes to a rural development and food security project administered by FAO, which introduced sustainable farming methods. More importantly, by emphasising the involvement of the beneficiaries, it proved that local participation is the key ingredient in development.
Lempira Sur, with a population of 120,000, is one of the poorest and most isolated regions of Honduras, located in hilly terrain close to the border with El Salvador. In 1990, when the Lempira Sur project was begun, 72 percent of the people lived below the poverty line and malnutrition was chronic. The soil was poor, yields were low, and erosion and drought were common due to the slash and burn farming system, which forced the farmers to find and clear new plots of land every few years.
Identifying needs and developing methods
The Lempira Sur project was initiated by FAO at the request of the Honduran Government with funding from the Dutch Government. Its main goal was to ensure food security by developing sustainable farming methods in the context of a broad agro-forestry system. Twelve hundred small-scale farmers and their families in 84 villages were the direct beneficiaries but, as the project has expanded, the lives of many more people have improved because of it.
Right from the preliminary stage of the project, the people themselves were at the centre of identifying their needs and problems. Through meetings and interviews, farmers and project extension workers determined that the main problem was loss of productivity, scarcity of trees and the drying up of water sources. For the project this implied a land use crisis as the traditional slash and burn farming system.
Prior to the start of the project, some of the local farmers had experimented with managing natural regeneration of trees especially those providing timber fruit and firewood. The farmers and the project's extension workers built on these initiatives and, in the mid 1990s, an agro-forestry system based on interspersing three different levels of crops had been established by local farmers.
When a number of farmers adopted the new method, their yields of maize and beans increased by 50 percent on average within a few years. Despite the good results, many farmers were sceptical. The big breakthrough came in 1997 when an El Niño associated drought hit the area. The crops on the farms using the new method withstood the drought but the others did not. Since that time, 80 percent of the farmers in the area have adopted the agro-forestry system. As a result the production of maize and beans has almost doubled. And now the farmers' families do not only eat more, they also have a surplus of between 30 and 50 per cent to sell on the market.
The Quesungual agroforestry farming system
When FAO's Lempira Sur project began, most of the farmers in the area were using the age-old slash and burn method of farming. They cleared part of the forest by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris. Crops were grown on this cleared plot for one to three years until the yields fell, due to declining moisture and fertility. Then the farmers had to move onto new plots and clear, burn and plant all over again.
In Lempira Sur, most of the fields are situated on hillsides with a slope of up to 60 degrees, and unless there is permanent vegetation cover and up to 30% tree cover, the farmers face serious problems with soil erosion and landslides. The key was to stop the burning and replace this destructive method with sustainable farming.
Together, the local farmers and the project's extension workers developed an agro-forestry farming system based on the management of the natural regeneration of trees which was then validated by FAO experts. As it was developed in a village in Lempira Sur called Quesungual, it was named the Quesungual system.
The system is used on plots between 150 and 900 metres above sea level and involves growing the maize, sorghum and beans interspersed with trees. Instead of burning, farmers clear old vegetation by hand with a machete. The tallest trees, which earlier were cut or burned down, are now kept, as they are good as a source of fruit, construction timber and wood for furniture, as well as breaking up the rain from tropical storms. A typical plot of one hectare consists of approximately 15 to 20 large timber and fruit trees and numerous smaller trees and shrubs.
Every year the smaller trees and shrubs are pruned to a height of 1.5 to 2 metres in order to eliminate the high branches so light can reach the crops. The larger branches are used for firewood, while the smaller ones are left on the ground to help revitalise the soil. This enhances soil fertility for the maize, beans, sorghum, and other crops that are grown on the ground between the trees.
Advantages of the new farming system
- the yields have almost doubled
- less labour is required to establish and maintain the plots
- the soil retains moisture better, enabling crops to withstand the regular drought that afflicts the area, and minimises the risk of erosion and landslides
The mulch absorbs the rain, reducing runoff and erosion and extending the growing season by twenty days which is crucial in regions of irregular rainfall. The trees act as anchors, holding the top soil, and therefore preventing land slides. The pruned material serves both as mulch and firewood - over 75% of farmers' firewood comes from these fields. The fields retain their fertility and so the farmers do not have to search for new land. A family of eight plus their chickens and pigs can be fed from 1½ hectares whereas before it required 10 hectares. This frees up land for reforestation and watershed management.
El Niño taught farmers about the importance of the new technology, and Hurricane Mitch proved the project's worth when it blasted through Central America and Lempira Sur in 1998. Thanks to the change in land use, the damage was less than in the rest of Honduras and, this region, which 10 years earlier could barely feed its own people, was able to provide food aid for other parts of the country. Every municipality in the south of Lempira Sur sent approximately two tonnes of food aid to the more developed regions of the country after Mitch.
New intitatives
With extra food available, people can look beyond simple survival. The needs of the households in Lempira Sur have changed, and therefore, so has the focus of the project.
An increase in production does not necessarily improve nutrition and consumption within the families. Therefore, FAO have started new initiatives that support the families inside their homes, in their back garden and in their fields. In particular, it is the women who are involved in these new activities. For example, women's co-operatives are now making dairy products. Vegetable gardens are being established. More efficient outdoor stoves are being built, and so are silos for storing grains. Practical training of secondary school children in the new farming systems is taking place, involving students, teachers, farmers and parents. All the initiatives are discussed within the villages, and the word is spreading to other communities.
The social and institutional organisation of the communities has also improved during the last ten years. For example, farmers' organisations, trade organisations and cooperatives have been established as well as community development committees. Now, more people participate in democratic processes, and two women have been elected mayors for the first time ever in Lempira Sur.
Dairy products business
In the village of Olosingo, a group of women who needed funding to start a dairy products business received a loan from the newly established co-operative bank. The women's group is now processing milk into cream and cheese. It is the second time the women have tried to make dairy products. Their first try did not succeed, as the cows did not produce enough milk in the dry season and it was too expensive to buy milk from other villages.
Having analysed and identified the problems, the women started to make nutritious feed for the cattle. This has had a double advantage: the women sell the feed, which adds to their income, and feed it to their cows, which enables them to produce milk throughout the year. Already the results are improving. The cattle are producing more milk and the women have a surplus of cream and cheese to sell on the nearby market - a good way of generating much needed income.
Building silos, protecting harvests
Traditionally, grains were stored in a loft above the fireplace in the kitchen. Here, the smoke helped to keep the maize and beans free from pests but this system was not very effective and every year between 20 and 40 percent of the cereal harvest was lost to rats and other pests. This was not a problem when the surplus only lasted three four months.
The grains are stored under the cover of the new crop storage silos. In the new silos, grain is preserved much more effectively than in the attic where mice or beatles could eat it. All the silos, which are as tall as a man, are produced within the communities from materials bought at the major towns or brought in from Guatemala. There is now an organisation of silo makers (tinsmiths) who are also managing the buying of raw materials, marketing of the products and the financing of the silos. People are learning how to build the silos themselves so that when the project ends they will be able to organise the buying of the material and continue making the silos.
A silo that holds 18 quintals of maize, is 6 feet tall and has a diameter of 3 feet. It takes 2 days to make a silo using 5½ sheets of galvanised zinc and one pound of tin. It costs the buyer US$40. Each family needs two silos of 18 quintals (maize) and one of 8 quintals (beans) to hold their basic grain requirements for one year.
The people take over
The people themselves are now taking full responsibility for planning improvements in their communities. As a result the role of the extension workers has changed. The changes introduced in the communities have proved sustainable and the people of Lempira Sur have been able to end their extreme poverty. Before the project, they could not produce enough to eat, and now they produce a surplus.
For further information, please contact:
ITDG would like to acknowledge the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), in particular Anne De Lannoy, for providing the original material on sustainable agro-forestry systems to ensure food security and enhance soil quality.
This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the DFID.
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