Article by PBI-Canada
On February 18, PBI-Honduras posted: “On Tuesday we observed the press conference called by organizations articulated in Via Campesina Honduras (CNTC Tegucigalpa, CODIMCA Honduras, UCIH, CILAH and FRENAJUC*) where they communicated their position on the agrarian crisis in times of pandemic, Eta and Iota.”
“They stated that ‘66% of the population in Honduras is affected by food insecurity.’”
PBI-Honduras adds: “In view of this food crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic, the passage of hurricanes and climate change, they demand the approval of the Emergency Law for the Reactivation of the Agricultural, Livestock and Forestry Sector.”
Pasos de Animal Grande reported: “Organizations brought together by Via Campesina demanded on February 16, 2021, in front of the National Congress of Honduras the approval of an emergency proposal submitted on February 06, 2020, to restore agricultural institutionality; end the militarization of the sector, pass credit laws for women, and create an instance that aims to increase productivity and production and combat poverty and unemployment.”
Earlier this week, Al Jazeera reported: “The Sula Valley, Honduras’s most agriculturally productive, was so heavily damaged by hurricanes Iota and Eta that international organizations have warned of a food crisis.”
That article adds: “The World Food Programme says three million Hondurans face food insecurity, six times higher than before the hurricanes. The dual hurricanes affected an estimated four million of 10 million Honduran people. The area is also Honduras’s hardest-hit by COVID-19 infections.”
The Emergency Law that is being demanded by the groups at the media conference is summarized in these 8-points that can be read here.
One of those demands is: “Grant agricultural credit to small and medium-sized producers at 0% interest for five consecutive years over those affected by drought, climate change, and exclusionary public policies.”
The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project began accompanying the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) in May 2018.
*CODIMCA – Council for the Integral Development of Peasant Women
UCIH – Union of Indigenous Campesina of Honduras
CILAH – Lenca Indigenous Environmental Council of Honduras
FRENAJUC – National Peasant, Indigenous, and Afro-descendant Youth Front
A TV news report on the media conference can be seen here.
