April 8, 2002: Headlines: COS - Honduras: Forestry: NGO's: Service: Honduras Today: RPCV Florence Reed's "Sustainable Harvest International" brings new hope for farmers and the environment in Honduras

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Honduras: Peace Corps Honduras: The Peace Corps in Honduras: April 8, 2002: Headlines: COS - Honduras: Forestry: NGO's: Service: Honduras Today: RPCV Florence Reed's "Sustainable Harvest International" brings new hope for farmers and the environment in Honduras

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-45-115.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.45.115) on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 7:25 pm: Edit Post

RPCV Florence Reed's "Sustainable Harvest International" brings new hope for farmers and the environment in Honduras

RPCV Florence Reed's Sustainable Harvest International brings new hope for farmers and the environment in Honduras

RPCV Florence Reed's "Sustainable Harvest International" brings new hope for farmers and the environment in Honduras

Sustainable Harvest International
New hope for farmers and the environment in Honduras

This is the son of a participating farmer. He is well pleased with the addition of carrots to his family's diet!

By FLORENCE REED
Special to Honduras This Week

After five years of success, Sustainable Harvest International's Honduras program is poised to become an independent Honduran non-governmental organization. Sustainable Harvest International (SHI), a US based nonprofit organization founded in 1997, began its work in Honduras and has since expanded to include programs in Panama, Belize and Nicaragua. Farmers working with SHI implement environmentally and economically sustainable alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture, a leading cause of tropical deforestation and subsequent poverty in Central America. Sustainable techniques work in harmony with the environment and increase both agricultural yields and family income.

SHI seeks nothing short of permanently altering the way communities engage in the cultivation of food and other products. Stressing long-term technical assistance over short-term relief, SHI's 256 participants in Honduras receive regular long-term technical training. SHI hires and trains local experts to work directly with participants. Currently, the Honduras program employs five local field personnel and one country coordinator who oversees the program. SHI's intensive program demands commitment from its participants so SHI only works with families and communities who both actively seek SHI's help and agree to invest their time and resources into the success of the project.

The efforts of participants have certainly paid off. Even in a year that saw a devastating drought, excessive rains and the lowest wholesale coffee prices in 60 years, SHI's participants met with impressive results. SHI-Honduras Country Coordinator Yovany Munguia wrote in his Annual Report that these crises strengthened participants' determination to fight environmental abuse. Redoubling their efforts, participants reforested over 300 acres with 70,000 trees (plus 85,000 coffee shrubs)-21,000 more than in 2000! Participants saved over 6,000 acres from slash-and-burn destruction by converting 533 acres to sustainable uses. Extensionists worked with participants to establish 160 organic vegetable gardens that provided many SHI families with their first taste of nutritious garden vegetables. Families sell the extra produce to boost incomes.

With an emphasis on crop diversity and cooperation, SHI helped participant farmers weather the impact of the coffee price plunge. In 2001, participants planted ten new economically viable crops on pilot plots totaling 25 acres, meeting with success. The 115 participants who received training formed ten growers' groups that will allow them to pool their harvests to sell directly to large-scale buyers. SHI farmers can soon expect increased income from coffee, however, by becoming certified organic producers. 25 shade coffee plantations covering 83 acres have received organic pre-certification. Final organic certification is expected soon.

Since it's founding, SHI-Honduras has worked with their partner organization, Fundacion Ecologista Hector Rodrigo Pastor Fasquelle. The Fundacion's support of SHI's program has played an integral role in the program's accomplishments and development. As an independent organization affiliated with SHI, Cosecha Sostenible International-Honduras will take with it lessons learned at the Fundacion. CSI-Honduras will assume direct responsibility for its management and funding, making operations more efficient and allowing for expansion of the program to reach new families. This latest step underscores SHI's commitment to local empowerment for local people to take control of their environmental and economic destinies. SHI is excited to foster CSI-Honduras' development and expects to continue building on successes.

For more information, please contact: In Honduras: Cosecha Sostenible Internacional-Honduras Apdo 2749 San Pedro, Sula, Cortes csi-honduras@hurakan.mayanet.hn
In the US: Sustainable Harvest International 104 Congress Street, Suite 401 Portsmouth, NH 03801 http://www.sustainableharvest.org info@sustainableharvest.org




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Story Source: Honduras Today

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Honduras; Forestry; NGO's; Service

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