Report: Food crisis worsens in Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua

As the year progresses, thousands of families in Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua face a food crisis that threatens to turn into prolonged hunger.

Pests, irregular rainfall and the high cost of living are depleting the reserves of the most vulnerable rural and urban households, leaving them on the brink of a daily struggle for survival.

This period, which traditionally brings with it an abundance of corn and beans, is the best time of the year for those who depend on the land. However, FEWS NET’s remote monitoring report for October 2024 warns that the joy will be fleeting.

During the period from October 2024 to February 2025 , a seasonal improvement in the food situation of these households is expected thanks to the harvesting of basic grains in the postrera and apante cycles.

In addition, with the increase in demand for labor for harvesting cash crops, the situation will be good.

However, from March 2025, these conditions will begin to gradually deteriorate with the onset of the annual lean season.

“It is a constant battle; the corn is lost before it grows and there is not enough beans for the whole family,” says Don Adán, a farmer from La Paz, in central Honduras, who sees his plot of land diminishing in production year after year.

The crisis is looming

Although the countryside is experiencing its own hell, the pain does not stop there. Cities are also feeling the impact of the food crisis.

This is despite the fact that the majority of the urban population depends on food purchases and informal work in commerce and construction.

FEWS NET reports that these urban households, already facing low and variable incomes, are seeing food prices rise and their purchasing power decline.

In the words of Rosa, a single mother from San Salvador : “It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to buy the basics; the money I earn as a street vendor is not enough to feed my children like before.”

The rural exodus to the cities in search of employment and a better life seems to have no end.

However, city life is not always the salvation many hope for. Increasingly limited job opportunities force thousands to face hunger and despair in a hostile environment.

The large urban centres of these countries are thus becoming a reflection of the food crisis that is spreading to every corner of the region.

Long-term impact

Subsistence agriculture, which feeds the majority of rural households, depends on production cycles that are highly sensitive to climatic and economic changes.

The Primera cycle, which coincides with the rainy season, used to guarantee the highest corn production of the year.

But now, due to irregular rainfall and a lack of resources to purchase inputs, the harvest is not sufficient to cover household needs.

The consequences of climate phenomena, such as hurricanes Eta and Iota in 2020, are still being felt.

Coffee rust and Covid-19 also left their mark, forcing families into debt and changing their livelihoods.

Some have chosen to migrate, while others have diversified their sources of income, facing a fragile and expensive agriculture, where credit becomes a trap from which it is difficult to escape.

Migration as a last resort

For those who are suffocated by poverty and lack of opportunities, migration becomes the only option.

Many people are making the arduous journey north to the United States in search of economic relief.

The remittances they send to their families are now a lifeline, financing the purchase of food and covering basic needs at home.

El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua see how a significant portion of their population makes this decision.

Meanwhile, others join the seasonal movements of day laborers who travel to the coffee, African palm and sugar cane production areas.

These internal migrants seek to take advantage of the demand for temporary labor, which, although insufficient, represents their main source of income during the year.

An uncertain future

As the year progresses, hunger continues to gain ground in Central America . For the poorest households in this region, the challenge is a constant struggle against adversity.

Without food reserves and without a support network, the most vulnerable families face a future full of uncertainty, in which poverty and food insecurity seem unbreakable.

As the cycle of scarcity approaches, countries in the region will have to decide how to confront this food crisis and support their people.

The history of Central America in 2024 is a reminder of the fragility of life in the countryside and the city, a cry for help for those who, from the land where they were born, cry out for an opportunity to avoid disappearing into the oblivion of poverty.