Food security in Yamaranguila, Honduras

In the Honduran town of Yamaranguila, the level of poverty and vulnerability among the indigenous population is particularly worrying. The reason behind the poverty is low farming productivity. Many families grow mainly corn and beans for their own consumption on very small plots of land. Other families turn to market gardening, but with very low productivity because of the rising costs of fertilizer, soil degradation and limited access to funding.

AVSF has established an alliance with two local organizations: the Yamaranguila Committee for Indigenous Rights and Development (COPRODEDPIY) and the Association for the Development of Honduras (ADROH). The goal is to strengthen individual, collective and institutional capacities in order to boost economic development and improve the food security of vulnerable families.

To do so, four actions have been put in place:

• Promoting processes for diversifying production based on agroecology with training workshops in the communities; providing basic equipment for diversification (small irrigation systems, fencing for land, etc.); and carrying out additional activities (smallholder competitions, festivals, skills-sharing, etc.).
• Supporting producer organizations for better access to supply chains: equipment and technical training to improve the quality and presentation of their products; organizational and entrepreneurial training and assistance.
• Helping women's and young people's groups implement association-related initiatives for the production, processing and/or sale of products: creation of a training program and assistance in designing, selecting and implementing these initiatives.
• Strengthening the advocacy work of ADROH and COPRODEDPIY for the implementation of more effective policies for local economic development and food security: coming up with proposals drawing on local experiences and participation in spaces for collaboration, and drawing up local public policies.

This project is supported by the European Union.