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

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2 CHAPTER 1 Box 1.1 Defining “Hillsides,” “Hillside Areas,” and “Valleys” Hillsides are defined as areas with slopes of more than 12 percent (PRONADERS 2000). Hillside areas include not only hillsides but also flat-floored valleys, 300 to 900 meters in elevation, which are scattered throughout the interior hillsides. “Valleys” refer mainly to the lowland areas in the north and northwest of the country, which are generally considered as high-potential areas for agriculture. In Honduras, hillside areas account for roughly 80 percent of the total land area where the major economic activity consists of smallholder farming focusing on production of basic grains, coffee, and livestock. Agricultural potential in hillside areas varies with agroecological factors such as elevation, rainfall, and soil characteristics. However, compared to areas with lower slope and elevation, agricultural options in hillside areas are constrained. Rather than profit maximization, food security is the most important objective of most smallholder households living in hillside areas. Many hillside areas also have less access to transport infrastructure and services. not only adversely impact farmers’ incomes but also have negative off-farm consequences such as silting of rivers, resulting in flooding, reduced water quality, and diminished reservoir capacity. It is not always clear what interventions are needed to foster sustainable land use and land management practices in the hillside areas or what interventions will have the greatest impact on poverty reduction. The main factors that drive the adoption of soil conservation measures in the hillside areas in Honduras, and how the provision of training affects returns to land and income, have yet to be clearly and conclusively identified. Despite a few localized success stories, 3 the rate of adoption of soil conservation measures in the hillside areas is generally low, and identifying the technical, institutional, environmental, and socioeconomic factors that condition farmers’ adoption behavior is important for designing promising policies that could stimulate such practices. Understanding the complex relationships among growth, poverty, and sustainable resource use (Vosti and Reardon 1997) is crucial to identifying effective strategies and policies to improve the livelihoods of the inhabitants of the rural hillside areas in Honduras. This report seeks to improve that understanding. Background Honduras has a total population of 6.8 million people and a relatively high population growth rate of 2.6 percent per year. Per capita income is US$920 per year (data refer to 2002; see World Bank 2004b). Social indicators such as child malnutrition rate (17 percent), life expectancy at birth (66 years), child mortality rate (32 per 1000 births), and literacy rate (less than three quarters of the population) are among the poorest in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Honduras has acquired Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) status and prepared a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in 2001. Honduras reached the so-called completion point in April 2005, which qualifies the country for major debt relief and 3 See, for example, Deugd (2000) for a description of an agroforestry-based system in the province of Lempira that combines productivity-improving and soil conservation components. See also Cárcamo, Alwang, and Norton (1994) for descriptions of some successes of the former USAID-supported Land Use and Production Enhancement (LUPE) project in the steep hillsides near Tegucigalpa.
BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION FOR THE STUDY 3 Figure 1.1 Changes in rural income distribution, 1993–2003 Source: Based on data from the Permanent Household Surveys 1993 and 2003, National Statistics Institute (INE), Honduras.
Page 1 and 2: Rural Development Policies and Sust
Page 3 and 4: Contents List of Tables iv List of
Page 5 and 6: TABLES v 5.6 Determinants of extern
Page 7 and 8: Boxes 1.1 Defining “Hillsides,”
Page 9 and 10: Acknowledgments The authors acknowl
Page 11: SUMMARY xi the adoption of sustaina
Page 16 and 17: 4 CHAPTER 1 will allow Honduras to
Page 18 and 19: 6 CHAPTER 1 In addition to providin
Page 20 and 21: 8 CHAPTER 1 econometric analysis to
Page 22 and 23: 10 CHAPTER 2 1998 and the coffee cr
Page 24 and 25: 12 CHAPTER 2 Box 2.1 Land Issues in
Page 26 and 27: 14 CHAPTER 2 Table 2.3 Yield of pri
Page 28 and 29: 16 CHAPTER 2 Table 2.7 Intersectora
Page 30 and 31: 18 CHAPTER 2 Figure 2.2 Terms of tr
Page 32 and 33: CHAPTER 3 Methods and Models In thi
Page 34 and 35: 22 CHAPTER 3 Figure 3.1 Sustainable
Page 36 and 37: 24 CHAPTER 3 financial organization
Page 38 and 39: 26 CHAPTER 3 decide the number of c
Page 40 and 41: 28 CHAPTER 3 The reduced form versi
Page 42 and 43: 30 CHAPTER 3 Table 3.1 Variables in
Page 44 and 45: 32 CHAPTER 3 of years of formal sch
Page 46 and 47: 34 CHAPTER 3 Key socioeconomic elem
Page 48 and 49: 36 CHAPTER 3 although we report the
Page 50 and 51: 38 CHAPTER 4 Table 4.1 Natural capi
Page 52 and 53: 40 CHAPTER 4 Box 4.1 Remittances Re
Page 54 and 55: 42 CHAPTER 4 Table 4.6 Access to pu
Page 56 and 57: 44 CHAPTER 4 strategy (clusters 1 a
Page 58 and 59: Table 4.8 Mean household net income
Page 60 and 61: 48 CHAPTER 4 Table 4.9 Summary stat
Page 62 and 63: 50 CHAPTER 4 Box 4.2 Gender in the
Page 64 and 65:
52 CHAPTER 5 The socioeconomic expl
Page 66 and 67:
54 CHAPTER 5 explanatory variables
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56 CHAPTER 5 technology training) a
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58 CHAPTER 5 Table 5.3 Determinants
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Page 74 and 75:
62 CHAPTER 5 the basic grains/lives
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64 CHAPTER 5 Table 5.5—Continued
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66 CHAPTER 5 ambiguous effects, dep
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70 CHAPTER 5 more livestock focus m
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74 CHAPTER 5 Geographic determinant
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80 CHAPTER 5 when they purchase it
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82 CHAPTER 5 Table 5.10 Summary of
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84 CHAPTER 5 able to compensate for
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86 CHAPTER 5 On the other hand, edu
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88 CHAPTER 5 and wage labor. Nevert
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90 CHAPTER 5 productivity. 62 Incre
Page 104 and 105:
CHAPTER 6 Summary of Findings, Conc
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94 CHAPTER 6 zero/minimum tillage,
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96 CHAPTER 6 Develop and promote yi
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98 REFERENCES Boucher, S., B. Barha
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100 REFERENCES Hornby, A. S. 1974.
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102 REFERENCES Pino, H. N., P. Jim
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