USAID-RED Rural Economic Diversification Project Quarterly Report #15. April – June 2009

The project aims to expand rural incomes and employment opportunities through market-driven, commercially focused activities. Key implementing partners include the Honduran private sector alliance, 11 educational institutions, and more than 17 Honduran private sector alliance partners. The project is focused on the central and western regions of Honduras, where it is working with 36 technical units to provide technical assistance to over 2,300 farmers. These technical units have been trained in one of two five-day training courses delivered during the period. Additionally, USAID-RED technicians are visiting farms with NGO technicians to continue technology transfer. During the quarter, USAID-RED clients made total investments of over $1.5 million, with 70% of these investments going towards production. The majority of these investments were in the production area, with 15% going towards processing and 4% towards postharvest activities. These investments included equipment for processing plants, irrigation systems, and land purchases for farming. A total of 2,929 technical visits were made during the quarter, including 2,214 visits to commercial production and 501 visits to USAID-RED processing and off-farm clients. Partner agreements were signed with six NGOs, including FUNDER, World Vision, Caritas, OCDHI, Hermandad de Honduras, and ODECO. Introductory meetings took place, and train-the-trainers activities were initiated to strengthen technical capacity. Two private sector alliances were formalized and launched, including an alliance with BOMOHSA to provide growers with access to irrigation equipment and an alliance with Seminis to provide hybrid seeds for high-value crops. New plantings increased by 52% compared to the previous quarter, with a total of 281 hectares planted. The majority of these plantings were in plantain, corn, and corn hybrids. A total of 564 training events were held during the quarter, with 4,822 growers and 3,995 men participating. Topics included basic cultural practices, irrigation systems installation, food safety, and personal hygiene in processing plants.