Home Videos Programs Stories Volunteering Reports Newsletters Contact

Honduras

La Esperanza Development Program is a long term development program in Honduras, currently in its third year. It is being implemented by Vecinos Mundiales Mesoamerica, World Neighbours Canada’s major partner in the region.

The objectives of the program are:

a) To experiment, adapt and spread sustainable agriculture technologies;

b) To strengthen the local leadership and management capacity of participating grassroots organizations;

c) To promote appropriate community and family health practices among participating families; and

d) To replicate the model in other communities, if it is successful.

This project is designed to start on a small scale focusing on a few technologies and defining an effective approach so once some success is achieved and we have consolidated our approach by "starting small", we will plan to scale it up and seek a larger program. Starting small allows us to adhere closely to World Neighbours principles and to learn by doing. The intervention strategy is based on working in a partnership with local organizations and local leaders.

Participants of the project will be 120 small-farm families which, in turn, will benefit approximately 720 people, women and men, young people and children. All of these families live in rural communities where livelihoods depend on agriculture, mainly on basic grain crops for direct consumption (corn and beans) and small coffee plantations. One partner is the National Peasants Association (ACAN: Asociacion Nacional Campesina). It is a national level organization supporting peasants who are beneficiaries of more than 20 years of land reform. The beneficiaries of this project are members of the following communities: El Guano, El Pastal, Laureles, La Selva, Piedras Coloradas and La Esperanza, which belong to the Danlí municipality, in the Department of El Paraíso, in the east of Honduras near the border with Nicaragua .

In the area of agriculture, the predominant issue to be addressed is the indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals on coffee crops, especially the use of herbicides for cleaning and preparation of soil for basic grain crops. The main needs in sustainable agriculture are developing improved and locally adapted sustainable techniques for production of coffee, maize and beans. In health, the activities will include improving basic hygiene conditions in the home and community, and access to reproductive health services. The organizational and leadership capacities for grassroots organizations will be strengthened during this process.

Adopting productive and sustainable land management techniques will address the problem of deforestation and erosion by diminishing the need to clear new land. Improving corn and beans production is a fundamental activity of this program since both grains are the basis to the food security of these communities.

Some specific activities in the first phase of the project have been:

1. Changing the traditional stove for an improved one – this reduces the amount of firewood needed and also reduces smoke inside the house. The first step is to train local leaders and to build a stove in their own homes to become examples for the community.
2. Training the cooperative and other local organizations to manage saving and credits - these organizations will manage some money we will give them as seed money to act as a catalyst for the saving and credit program.
3. Training leaders to strength local organizations to work on health, improving agricultural techniques, livestock husbandry and gender issues.
4. Plan to build an office and house for the local organization. The agreement is that project staff will use the office while in La Esperanza. People from La Esperanza will contribute labor and local materials. WNC will contribute materials which need to be purchased.

The first phase of the project started in July 2006 and finished in June 2008. In March 2008 funding from a CIDA matching grant permitted the hiring of a full time health coordinator and an office assistant to assist the program coordinator. The program was also expanded into another four villages.

All of the initial objectives of the first phase, including the construction of a large training centre in El Guano, have been achieved. Over 50 volunteer leaders are active in all 14 villages with the improved stove technology, the use of micro-credit and crop deversification speading.