The World Development Committee - Whose Earth?

Whose Earth?

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Focus on Honduras

Background: Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is ranked 115 out of 177 in the UN's human development report. Of a population close to 7 million, almost a quarter is undernourished. In the mountain areas, where this year's World Development Appeal will empower indigenous communities to shape a better life for themselves, 60% of people are malnourished. Ecological factors are key in the struggle for a sustainable future through authentic development.

Almost a third of Honduras is covered by tropical forest, but its destruction means that a viable life for the poor becomes increasingly difficult. Trees act as sponges that gradually absorb and release water. They draw ground water up through their roots and release most of it back into the air through their leaves. With fewer trees, this water cycle is disrupted: more rainfall runs off down the mountain and less water is absorbed to be released into the atmosphere to later fall again as rain. Fewer trees lead to less rainfall, and ultimately means that deforestation contributes to drought.

In addition, forest cover prevents heavy rainfall from pelting the hillside directly, so that when the water does reach the soil as a gentler trickle, it has more chance of being absorbed. With no forest cover, and no tree roots holding the soil together, rainfall washes the fertile topsoil away. The consequence is degraded, infertile land where it is harder to grow food.

Lastly, trees absorb carbon in the atmosphere and are vital in regulating climate. Without them climate change and global warming are accelerated, affecting the poor most severely. In the ecosystem of Honduras, preserving the forest and working in environmentally friendly ways are central to good development. A beneficial side effect of the type of development we will support is a less carbon intense way of life. Cutting the carbon is the thread that links the development initiatives outlined below.

Cutting the Carbon: 1. Through our partners in Proyecto Aldea Global (PAG or the Global Village Project) and OCDIH (the Christian Organization for Development in Honduras) we facilitate tree planting and reforestation to counter the problems of loss of tree cover and top-soil being washed away. One school grew 14,000 saplings. The students sold 3,500 to local farmers to cover their costs and earn enough income to continue the operation into the future. They then replanted the rest at strategic sites to protect water sources. Through this type of approach, deforestation is being halted and soil fertility is also being ensured. The groundwork for a viable future is being laid. In addition, the earth's natural way of cutting and coping with carbon is being assisted and maintained.

2. Poor farmers often prepare existing land for planting by burning the residue of the previous year's harvest. If they want to extend their farmland they simply set fire to the forest. The main driving forces underlying this system are a long standing farming tradition and a lack of knowledge about the way the forest ecosystem works. Poverty is also a key factor--the land just needs to be cleared as quickly as possible to try to get some harvest. As one commentator puts it: "Thus the poor are driven by their poverty to destroy the environment on which they depend for a living--they are buying short-term survival by committing long-term suicide." In this situation, PAGand OCDIH break into the spiral of destruction to come alongside communities to show them that working with the environment can actually result in a better standard of life, with a more varied diet. To start with Lucas Savillon Paz, a 54 year-old farmer, says: "I thought it was a load of rubbish... Now I have an integrated farm. I grow coffee, plantain and different kinds of trees, as well as citrus fruits and avocado." Lucas no longer burns the land, but instead works with it, planting trees rather than destroying them. As Kevin, the 10 year-old son of a peasant farmer observes: "Those who burn the fire are 'grossero' [a word that means ignorant or uninformed in some way]... they don't realise it's the trees that give them the air to breathe." In addition to providing a better standard of living, this approach cuts the carbon pumped into the atmosphere by the old slash and burn method.

3. Building on the idea of working with the environment, PAGand OCDIH have encouraged farmers to try organic farming. As a result, the lives of the poor have been improved. In the old model of farming, maize and beans were grown almost exclusively. These required a lot of chemical based fertilizers, which were ultimately made from petrol and so part of the carbon economy. Moving to organic farming techniques, the poor have been empowered to make their own natural fertilizers, insecticides and compost. As they have done so, they have also been shown that it is possible to have a better diet year round through growing different types of food, especially fruit and vegetables.

Jesus Horaldo Murillo says: "Here we're used to eating just maize and beans. Now we've got plenty of vegetables to eat too... It's important for the children's health for them to eat fruit and vegetables." Reinforcing the benefits of going organic, Francisco Funez Enamorado says: "We've always grown crops but now we plant different things, like cabbage, lettuce, radishes, oregano and flowers--for medicine and to repel insects... And everything we do is organic now... compost, green fertilizer [liquid fertilizer made from crushed leaves, water and lime] and natural insecticides, for example, plants that repel insects... Now we know our food is healthy, and we're growing more too."

Following this path, not only are poor farmers freed from having to buy cripplingly expensive fertilizer, which as a petrol dependent product has soared in price with the spike in the cost of oil, they have also been offered a way to cut the carbon hidden in the agricultural cycle and take large steps toward a viable long term future. As Lucas Savillon Paz puts it: "I'm planting trees not only so that I can eat, but so that my children and grandchildren can eat."

4. In this overall picture, seemingly small measures can have a big impact in contributing to human welfare and cutting the carbon. Take the example of smoke-free, fuel-efficient stoves. Prior to their introduction, poor women cooked over an open fire on the kitchen floor. Not only is this inconvenient and uncomfortable, it is also a serious health hazard. Children often fall and burn themselves. In addition, the very smoky atmosphere is a key factor in respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and bronchitis being a leading child killer in Honduras, accounting for a third of all infant deaths under three. To add insult to injury, this type of cooking uses a lot of firewood, so adding to deforestation. It also means that family members, usually children, have to spend hours collecting firewood rather than doing more beneficial things.

New stoves have made a real impact in the quality of people's lives and are playing a part in cutting the carbon through reducing firewood use. PAGand OCDIH workers show families how to build fuel-efficient, smoke-free stoves. The stoves have a small furnace area with a hotplate on top, and smoke is safely channelled away through a chimney. The stove needs just two or three sticks of wood at a time and this dramatically reduces firewood consumption. Francisco Funez Enamorado used to make daily trips to collect firewood, but since building their new stove, he only needs to go every three or four days. Jesus Horaldo Murillo says: "Now one load of firewood lasts us a week--before we used to need double that." At their best these new stoves can decrease firewood consumption by 70%. Health benefits are clear. Jose Giovanni Lopez explains that before the new stove, his two elder children had chest problems through breathing smoke. Since the new stove, Carmen, now aged 4, has been born: she has never had any chest problems. Jose's son Jerzon, aged 11, adds: "Every day after school I used to have to go for firewood, and now I don't need to go every day, so I can play football instead."

Smoke-free, fuel-efficient stoves are beneficial in many ways, and help cut the carbon.

When we support this year's Whose Earth?-Cut the Carbon World Development Appeal, we support communities creating a viable long-term future for themselves, we enable communities to reduce their carbon emissions, and we challenge ourselves to adopt more sustainable, less carbon dependent lifestyles.