FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 11/01 - HONDURAS (6 November)
Following the mid-season dry spell (canícula), the wet season has resumed with normal to abundant rains throughout the country, and prospects are favourable for the important second season (apante) crops planted in September and due to be harvested from mid-November. A dry spell in June adversely affected first season crops during the early stages of development. Some 26 000 farmers living in central and southern areas of the country lost an estimated 40 000 hectares of maize, 20 000 hectares of sorghum and 8 000 hectares of beans. A tight food situation is forecast to continue until December for the affected population.
The Government requested assistance from the international community after tropical storm ‘Michelle’ caused localized floods in the Caribbean coast of Honduras and forced the evacuation of 22 000 people at the end of October. Much of the land occupied by ‘Misquito’ Indians is inaccessible by road and there is concern about the food security of an estimated 35 000 people. No assessment of the damages to the agricultural sector is yet available.
There is also concern about the effects of the coffee crisis on the food security of the poor rural population. Jobs are being lost and salaries are being lowered following low international coffee prices and low yields. Last year temporary employment during coffee harvesting (November-April) provided an estimated 400 000 people with US$ 3.5 per day to purchase food for their families. However, an estimated 50 000 jobs have been lost so far this year and the salaries have dropped to US$ 2 per day.