Clean Water for Rural Honduras

Dear GlobalGiving Supporter,

Greetings from Honduras! I write to provide an update about our work this year with our local partners. The vulnerability of local communities continues to be a challenge that we are focused on addressing, as extreme weather events and the effects of climate change are felt more often and consistently.

Home and Community Gardens: Building Resilience and Enhancing Food Security in Honduras

In our partner communities in northern Honduras, we have made significant progress with 104 home gardens established so far in the communities of Orotina, Miscellis, San Antonio, Jilamo, and El Edén). Although the region was hard hit by Hurricanes Eta and Iota in November 2020, with unprecedented rains and flooding, the communities have shown resilience in maintaining their home gardens for food production. The gardens are designed to include plant species that produce in the short term: Radish, cucumber, beans, chili peppers, mustard, coriander, ginger, squash, and turmeric; medium-term: Banana, papaya, and yucca, and long-term: rambutan, mango, guava, nance, lemon, and avocado.

Sustainable Agriculture: Expansion of Agroforestry in Honduras

So far in 2021, we worked with 22 new smallholder farmers in Honduras to establish diversified agroforestry parcels. Work has been done on the installation of agroforestry plots in 3 communities: Orotina, Mi Nueva Esperanza, and Jilamo. In these plots, we have worked with 22 families installing 15.4 hectares with various plants. The systems include a diversity of species like Inga edulis, cacao, lemon, avocado, and soursop. These producers can now generate a diversity of fruits and vegetables for their own consumption as well as improve land use and soil quality so that their parcels will be productive in the long term. This combination of species fixes nitrogen and adds organic matter to the soil and significantly reduces or eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers, weed killers, and pesticides.

Fuel-Efficient Stove Construction 

EcoLogic uses fuel-efficient cookstoves as a tool to replace rudimentary open-pit fires and other inefficient cooking techniques, which are the norm throughout homes in rural areas of Honduras. So far in 2021, with restrictions easing and using safety protocols, we have been able to move forward with building stoves for 200 households in our partner communities in Honduras. Each household contributed local materials as part of their in-kind investment (2 sacks of ground clay, 2 sacks of sand, and labor to help with construction). 

I work with these communities day in and day out. I know how much they appreciate the positive impact you are making in their lives and on their watersheds and forest through your support of EcoLogic. If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch with me at ceuraque@ecologic.org. 

In solidarity,

Carlos Duarte Euraque

Program Officer, EcoLogic Honduras