Rural Development Policies and Sustainable Land Use in the ...

96 CHAPTER 6
Develop and promote yield and income
increasing production technologies.
While improving the sustainability of agricultural
production may increase yields in
the long term, in the short to medium term
land-saving production technologies are
needed to increase the productivity and profitability
of annual crops, particularly basic
grains. Our findings suggest that use of both
organic and inorganic fertilizers, as well as
other chemical inputs such as pesticides, can
contribute to higher productivity. Evidently,
more emphasis of technical assistance programs
on such productivity enhancing inputs,
as well as on longer term conservation
measures, is needed, given the limited impact
such programs are found to have on
productivity. Beyond technical assistance,
improved technologies suitable for hillside
areas are needed. The current capacity in
Honduras for agricultural technology research
in this area is very limited and the
government may therefore try to find ways
to disseminate appropriate agricultural technologies
that have proven successful elsewhere
but in similar agroecological and
socioeconomic conditions.
Capitalize on the migration phenomenon.
Migration has a positive effect on crop
productivity and use of some inputs and
land management practices. Currently remittances
mostly serve as a source of finance
for food and other goods, which can be
expected given that poverty is deep among
hillside households. But remittances are a potential
source of finance for market-oriented
productive activities and household diversification.
To maximize returns from migration,
the government should consider
providing basic training to assist prospective
migrants, assisting community-based initiatives
aimed at investing remittances in
a productive way, and improving financial
systems to lower the transaction costs and
risks associated with remittances.
In conclusion, this report has shown that
household-level heterogeneity in the rural
hillside areas of Honduras limits the appropriateness
of “cookie-cutter approaches”
to policies and programs designed to foster
broad-based growth. Investment strategies
should be formulated on broad regional
bases, but options within regions should
be tailored to local asset bases and livelihood
strategies.