Food Security and Health

Honduras is suffering from a long-term economic crisis caused in part by farmers’ lack of capacity to increase food production and inability to overcome periodic droughts and floods. Many Honduran poor dwell in the rural areas and have an agriculture based economy. In addition, high unemployment rates, low incomes, and the elevated cost of food are the most important factors in food security, which is one’s access or availability of food.   USAID’s food security program promotes adequate infant and young child feeding and exclusive breastfeeding.  It also promotes access to food through training in soil conservation agricultural practices and through a food-for-work distribution component.

USAID’s food security program improves child survival and nutrition through programs that promote infant and young child feeding and exclusive breastfeeding.  Some of the routine program activities to increase child survival and reduce problems due to malnutrition in children include the monitoring of prenatal care and of the child’s height and weight.  The program also includes counseling on general child health issues, on the benefits of long term breast-feeding, and the prevention and treatment of childhood disease.

To promote access to food, the program has a training component in basic agricultural practices and a food distribution component through the food-for-work projects. The program works directly with small subsistence farmers to improve food access.  Some of the program activities include training beneficiaries in agricultural practices like preparing the soil and harvesting the crops. As part of the training, the program also introduces the farmers to soil conservation agricultural technology like irrigation systems, greenhouses, and collection centers. 

During the dry season, when the agricultural work is reduced to a minimum, the program has a food for work component focused on municipal development projects.  During these months, the community develops projects that are a priority to the community like road construction, building of bridges, or clinics. In these programs, the municipality and beneficiaries contribute with construction materials and labor, and USAID provides food as payment for the laborers.