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| HONDURAS Food Security Warning | April 19, 2007 |
Child malnutrition to increase during hunger season in the south
Child malnutrition is expected to increase above normal levels during the April to August hunger season in southern Honduras. Malnutrition rates will be higher this season than in 2006, affecting nearly 8,300 subsistence producer households who have limited staple cereal reserves due to losses of up to 50 percent in the 2006/07 harvest and are affected by the 31 percent increase in the consumer price of maize. Of these households, nearly 4,000 are currently highly food insecure, and are already reducing the quantity and quality of their food. About 1,600 children are at high risk of acute malnutrition.
| Figure 1. Municipalities with children under five affected by growth faltering Yellow borders indicate areas of intervention; red indicates prioritized municipalities. Source: VAM Unit, WFP Honduras |
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The percentage of children under five years of age affected by growth faltering, a local measure of malnutrition measured in weight for age, has increased relative to 2006 in 37 municipalities in southern Honduras (Figure 1), and will continue to increase during the hunger season from April to August, according to data and monitoring provided by the Monitoring Committee of the Food and Nutrition Security Coalition and the Ministry of Health.
In the municipality of Duyure, primary data gathered at the end of March documented that 26 percent of children are affected by acute malnutrition: 19.8 percent experience slight malnutrition, 4.2 percent moderate malnutrition and 2 percent suffer from severe acute malnutrition. Furthermore, 67 percent are affected by anemia.
To respond to this crisis, an immediate intervention of food assistance is necessary as follows:
- Supplementary feeding for 90 days from April to June for the 1,600 children under 5 years of age currently at high risk of acute malnutrition, as well as for pregnant and lactating women;
- Food-for-training programs (in areas such as nutrition, health and vegetable production), providing family rations for 60 days from April to May to all mothers of the 4,000 families that are currently food insecurity; and
- Food-for-work for 30 days from mid-May to mid-June for the 8,300 families affected by 2006/07 crops losses.
To implement this plan, around 1,500 MT of food will be required, which will benefit nearly 68,000 people. The World Food Program (WFP) currently has 400 MT, with which it has started the intervention in the municipalities with the highest levels of food insecurity. The 1,100 MT needed to complete the intervention should be requested from international donors.
The food assistance should be complemented with the distribution of high-quality short-cycle (90 days) maize seeds and inputs for the primera sowing from May to June; the installation of small water capture and irrigation systems to enable a good harvest in August; and providing training in the proper use of natural resources (water, soils and forests) and household health (hygiene, illnesses prevention and proper food and nutrition).
