Well-Being For All

Report from Terry Fielder in Honduras - Part 3

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

Rural Reconstruction Program (In Spanish Programa de Reconstruccion Rural – PRR),
La Buena Fe (the valley where PRR offices are located),
Zacapa (the Municipality or District or County),
Santa Barbara (the Department or province or state),
Honduras.

As World Accord and PRR work together to write a new 3-year Program that we will submit to CIDA, our facilitators Faruq Faisel and Gabriela Mayorquin have conducted a SWOT Analysis. SWOT means Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

A new Threat to the poor in rural Honduras are the activities of some large trans-national seed and chemical companies from outside Honduras. International trade agreements and global banking policies can and do set up favourable opportunities for such corporations.

Chemical inputs are expensive for farmers who only earn a few hundred dollars a year. Yes, the chemicals increase their crop but the cost can leave the farm family with a smaller income after they pay the debt for fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. Add to this the additional cost of purchasing seeds that are produced to never germinate or are dependent on specific chemical inputs and the farm family is trapped.

Because of this, PRR has been developing local traditional seed varieties of staples like corn and beans that are resistant to disease and insect damage. PRR has tested over 20 varieties of beans alone and those varieties have been crossed together to improve yield and quality without the burden of chemical input.

The added bonus to this new FOOD SOVEREIGNTY is that it's 100% organic. Chemical contamination of both the farm family and the final harvest is dramatically reduced. The family is left to profit from their labour and risk.

Food Sovereignty. A new term in the goal of Food Security in the sustainable future of the rural poor.

Terry Fielder August 17, 2006

posted by World Accord Staff @ 10:43 AM