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Essay / The decline of food security in Honduras and why it happened
Honduras currently finds itself in a difficult situation when it comes to food security and availability. With a population of around 8 million, the country's government is struggling to combat and resolve the problem of poverty and undernourishment of citizens. Nearly two-thirds of Honduras' population lives below the national poverty line, and a large portion does not even have land. A new government took power in 2010 and is making slow progress, but Honduras is still considered highly vulnerable to food shortages. According to some sources, around a quarter of the population of Honduras suffers from undernourishment; this is more than double the percentage calculated a few years ago in 2006. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay There are several different factors that can be attributed to the decline in food security in Honduras, due in part to either uncontrollable natural causes, or because of Honduran citizens themselves. One of the biggest problems Hondurans face is the large number of natural disasters that occur almost every year. In fact, Honduras almost always appears in the list of ten countries most vulnerable to natural disasters. Hurricanes are widespread and can have devastating effects on local communities and Honduran food systems. Hurricane Mitch inflicted heavy damage on Honduras in 1998 and caused serious water circulation problems; the southern part of Honduras experiences little or no water cycles and is continually affected by drought and arid lands. Other hurricanes have contributed to this problem, in 1997, 2001, 2007 and 2009. Additionally, Hondurans do not have robust emergency response plans, which has made the consequences of these natural disasters even more damaging as necessary. After these hurricanes, the Honduran government must be able to provide its citizens with water and nutritious food, something it has failed to do. Another thing that greatly contributes to the lack of food availability and distribution in Honduras is the large number of inefficient systems. agricultural systems implemented in the country. More than 16% of Honduran land is agriculturally useful and has the potential to support and maintain beneficial agricultural systems. The only problem is that much of this arable land has not been exploited and used simply because it does not meet the criteria of Honduras' current agricultural system. This agricultural system opts for large plots of crops, a commercial orientation given to these crops, and are placed only in humid and rainfed areas. Because of this, many crops do not even survive, leading to low yields and degraded quality. Much of the country's land is owned by large industrial landowners, who farm primarily for export and not for local consumption. Small farmers receive very little support and recognition, even though they provide much of the food actually consumed by Hondurans. They face various problems, such as poor or non-existent infrastructure, poor quality and availability of agricultural inputs, and low capacity and credit. There are no longer any public agricultural systems and only large landowners can now afford to pay for extension services. One of the problems facing small farmers..