In Honduras, food insecurity is a persistent challenge. 1 in 5 Hondurans is in a situation of poverty. In rural areas, this problem is worsened by inequality of opportunities, decent employment, access to basic services; and affects people's possibilities to access a nutritious diet. Faced with this challenge, we promote the development of capacities to move from theory to practice towards an effective exercise of the right to food, with healthy and affordable diets.
Local food systems and a healthy diet are interconnected in many ways. They help promote local production and access to fresh, healthy food within a community, and this can have a positive impact on the health of its members and environmental sustainability. In addition, these systems can help preserve cultural traditions and encourage community participation in food decision-making, especially in households and schools.
The People-Centred Food Systems with a Human Rights-Based Approach project aims to integrate existing human rights frameworks and instruments with public policy to strengthen food systems, taking as a reference the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP). The project is implemented in Ethiopia, Honduras, Cambodia and Uganda with rights holders, duty bearers and local civil society organisations, through a consortium made up of Columbia University, Alliance of Bioversity International-CIAT, the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction and Rikolto. In Honduras, Rikolto is in the lead.
At the start of the project, participants' level of knowledge of the main international treaties, including the UNDROP document and its objective, as well as their familiarity with the concept of a human rights-based approach, were assessed.
Local food systems can contribute to greater resilience. We work with the Lenca community (an indigenous group in Honduras) in 6 municipalities in the Department of La Paz to raise awareness among heads of households about the use of safe and culturally appropriate food in their homes. It is expected that they use safe processes in their homes for the consumption of local foods, and that this contributes to the resilience of the local food system. This effort recognises community-driven traditional knowledge, biodiversity conservation efforts, community governance, and sustainable agricultural practices.
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The project collaborates with different actors for the creation of a new Human Rights Policy where 5 rights are prioritised, and the human right to food is included. The cross-cutting effort will allow the incorporation of a food safety index. In addition, it contributes to the updating of the Plan of Action of the Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Strategy of Honduras.
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