August 9, 2019, Honduras: Sustainable food production is the main goal of the Climate-Smart Family Farming (CS-FF) project that was recently launched by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the Association for the Integrated Management of Basins of La Paz and Comayagua, Honduras (ASOMAINCUPACO).
Emmanuel Béjar, SNV Director in Central America, expressed that the project will promote resilient food production in about 600 families and some 3,000 people in the El Venado and Chiflador – Guaralape area.
The two-year project, funded by the European Union through the EUROCLIMA+ programme, will make use of an Integrated Basin Management for Resilient Food Production in Central America (AFCI-PRA).
Climate change is a priority of the European Union. Solomon Solis, Country Representative of the European Union delegation in Honduras, even added that for the climate agenda of the coming years, they are thinking of supporting a bilateral cooperation in the country.
Honduras is amongst the countries most affected by climate change. The use of obsolete technologies, poor agricultural production practices, little access to financing and technical assistance, severely increases the population's vulnerability to climate change. Women and indigenous peoples in the Honduran dry corridor are especially vulnerable, due to their high dependency on dryland agriculture.
Marlon Escoto, Presidential Delegate on Climate Change-ClimaPlus Honduras, indicated that the project will promote rural inclusive financing for the use of climate smart approaches in the coffee, basic grains, livestock and honey chains for smallholder farmers. This will contribute to the Intended National Determined Contributions (NDC) of Honduras.
Filiberto Melgar, Mayor of Cabañas, along with other mayors of the municipalities benefitting from the project, is grateful that his area is included in the project. He expressed support and called it “innovative”.
Expected actions and impacts
The objective of the CC-FF project is to produce food in a resilient way. First, through the implementation of a sustainable water resource management system by local organisations and producer families, in the context of their ancestral practices; second, through the validation and adoption of climate-smart agricultural production systems in Central America by facilitating the dissemination of experiences and best practices throughout the region.
The project will specifically strengthen local and national capacities for the adoption of climate-smart agricultural production systems in the value chains of honey, coffee, livestock and basic grains and improve food and nutrition security.
The project will also promote the creation of basin organisations. SNV will support them in the formulation of, approval processes and implementation of comprehensive watershed management plans. It will also help to establish water governance mechanisms, in order to increase water productivity and carbon retention in food systems. SNV and partners will also promote the conservation and restoration of at least 500 hectares of forests in water recharge areas. To achieve this, the project will establish agroforestry systems for coffee production and will introduce improved cookstoves that reduce the consumption of firewood by up to 50%.
Carlos Ramos Salguero, Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change of Guatemala valued the project as positive for the whole Central American region.