An experimental fish farm in the grounds of Zamorano helps diversify agricultural methods in Honduras

By LISA McKIDDIE

The United Nations’ Division for Sustainable Development estimates that by 2025, 83 per cent of the global population will live in the developing world, where the capacity of resources and technology to sustain them remains uncertain.

In Honduras, which has a particularly high population growth rate of 2.32 per cent, agricultural productivity is low and natural resources are swallowed up at an alarming rate. The challenges faced by the Central American nation are complex and varied, but agricultural experts who gathered last weekend at Zamorano, the Agricultural School of Latin America, are hopeful that with adequate guidance, they can be overcome.

Priorities for Honduran agriculture include boosting productivity, increasing per capita income in the agricultural sector, and manufacturing competitive products for the world market. However, these goals must be achieved with minimal damage to the environment in order to avoid compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

If these goals are met, the agricultural sector will be able to maintain the growing population, increase its contribution to the economy through exports, and help reduce poverty.

The Challenges: Poor growth, low productivity and environmental destruction

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Honduras has grown in recent years. But over the last 30 years, the agricultural sector’s contribution to the GDP has declined, with a growth rate of minus 0.01 per cent.

Agriculture is dominated by the cultivation of corn, beans and coffee, but these products are worth little on the international market. Corn is in low demand and beans tend to be consumed internally rather than exported.

Only seven products make up 92 per cent of crops cultivated in rural Honduras. This lack of diversity leaves the agricultural sector vulnerable to fluctuations in the world market and failure of one crop has a devastating impact.

In Honduras, more than 60 per cent of corn and more than 70 per cent of beans are still cultivated using traditional methods. Agriculture remains dependent on intensive manual labor, which cannot compete with technological methods of cultivation and thus perpetuates low productivity.

Honduras would benefit from a system like that in the U.S. where small farms have consolidated to create one big producer. About 86 per cent of Honduran farms consist of less than one acre of land, owned by families who cannot even produce enough food to meet their own needs, let alone compete in the open market.

Deforestation and drought are also major environmental threats to sustainable development in Honduras, a country in which 3896 acres of forest are lost every year. The rapid depletion of Honduran natural resources is one of the chief causes of drought and crop failure throughout the country.

The Permanent Committee of Contingencies, the U.N. Fund for children, the World Food Program and the European Union have warned that 150 000 Honduran families are on the verge of starvation as a result of January’s prolonged drought. These families live in the least developed parts of the country where deforestation proceeds at an intense rate and the water basins and rivers are dry.

The path to sustainable agriculture for Honduras

Investment and diversification are essential foundations for the development of agriculture. The support of the government, banks, businesses, development organizations and universities is needed to encourage both of these activities throughout the sector.

Co-operatives have already proved successful in Honduras, enabling small farms to split the cost of new technology. Wider use of shared technology would enable farmers to further reduce their dependency on manual labor and increase productivity.

The environmental threat to sustainable agriculture in Honduras is being addressed; steps have been taken to protect remaining forests and natural reserves have been established in various parts of the country. However, much more needs to be done in order to halt the exhaustion of natural resources.

Environmental projects cannot be completely successful without the integration of forestation policies and water policies; the lack of co-ordination in governmental operations must be rectified. Decentralization of policy-making is also necessary because different territories need different strategies, so that local motives and incentives can be identified and immediate impact can be seen.

The new Water Law, passed only a few weeks ago in Congress, is an example of successful delegation of responsibilities to municipalities. The Law was criticized by the press, which said that the municipalities would steal money from the central government. However, its advantages have been scientifically proved. Each municipality understands the needs and idiosyncrasies of its basin, and is therefore fully capable of managing its own supply.

Identifying the problems and needs of rural Honduras is the first step along the path towards a developed, productive and sustainable agricultural sector. However, the most challenging and most important part of the process is the dissemination of this knowledge to all sectors of society. Agricultural efficiency can only be achieved once all participants in the chain of investment, production, manufacturing, exports and consumption are made fully aware of the needs of rural Honduras.

Policymakers and investors, who currently take little interest in agriculture, need to be informed about the principles behind sustainable development, in order to achieve a change of attitude towards the agricultural sector in government and financial circles.

Educators also need to take part in rural development projects in order to strengthen output at a community level. They must help producers understand the concept of sustainable development, creating a rural workforce that can reconcile the agricultural needs of the country with local needs.

An institution with great potential to direct future agricultural development is in fact one of the most deficient in society – the Honduran educational system.

Honduras needs to provide a secure learning atmosphere for children, and to encourage them to recognize the importance of agricultural development. If they are to become leaders in sustainable agriculture, they also need technical education and access to information about innovation, productive employment and environmental issues. Since they are the future of the country, an investment in their education cannot fail to yield results.

The students and teachers of Zamorano currently participate in several local initiatives in rural communities throughout Honduras. The university is also connected with eight regional educational institutions, 14 national educational institutions, and ten youth groups. Their commitment has had an impact, but knowledge in every sector of society still needs to be raised significantly to widen its scale.