Tegucigalpa is leading the shift towards new food consumption

At a global level, our food systems are in crisis and the transformation towards more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive systems is urgent. Through the program “Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems” (SAS), Rikolto supports city-regions in the implementation of policies and practices that contribute to this transformation.

What do we mean when we say “sustainable food systems?" Following CIAT definition, they are systems where food products are culturally acceptable, economically fair, affordable, nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy, and in which a balance between the integrity of the agricultural ecosystem and social welfare is achieved.

The Honduran capital urges for a shift towards a more sustainable and inclusive food system.

• 45% of the population lives in marginalized conditions; they obtain food from informal markets with little guarantee of cleanliness or quality, and at the same time produce an average of 878 tonnes of trash per day.
• There is no food policy that articulates the municipal programs or projects to improve food supplies to the cities of the Central District. As such, efforts remain dispersed.
• Between 30% and 40% of the population of the largest cities of Honduras (Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula), get their food from supermarkets. Thus, the supermarket chains have forced the organizations of horticultural producers to get organized and search for more efficient and sustainable mechanisms to market their products and guarantee their quality.
• These producer organizations show technical, socio-organizational, and business weaknesses that affect their competitiveness and sustainability, preventing them from becoming commercially viable partners.

Cities are key actors in this change. In 2015, 137 mayors met in Milan to discuss the two defining emergencies of the third millennium: food security and sustainable development. At the end of the conference, they signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact who states their willingness to develop a sustainable, inclusive, secure, diverse food system. Tegucigalpa is one of first cities to sign the Pact.

In order to achieve this, Rikolto works to:

1 | Boost the development of inclusive business models between farmer organisations and the public and private sectors.

• Develop a program to strengthen business and organizational competency of 7 farmer organisations that form part of the Honduras Agricultural Consortium (800 producers) with a focus on increasing their competitiveness and encouraging a generational shift.
• Provide funds and expertise for the development of 2 green markets and urban fairs in the Central District of Tegucigalpa.

2 | Increase the production of safe food and the productivity levels among the farmers in the productive zones surrounding the Central District.

• Develop a program of Agricultural Best Practices (BPA) and Integrated Pest Management (MIP) designed for producer organizations to encourage the production of safe food.
• Co-finance and advise the development of two technical innovation showcases (protected agriculture, hydroponics and fertigation efficiency) with the Consortium.

3 | Strengthen the short-chain between producers and consumers, through the establishment or augmentation of market fairs and the direct supply to infant care centres and schools in the Central District.

4 | Develop and implement a sustainable food and nutrition policy at the municipal level that guarantees an inclusive and sustainable food system.

• Facilitate the construction of a municipal platform to create a sustainable food policy.
• Facilitate the exchange of experiences between the municipalities supported by Rikolto.

Rikolto implements the project interventions by adopting a three-teer approach.

1. Level 1 | Piloting with cities. Together with our partners, we develop and disseminate innovative and scalable practices at city-region level that contribute to sustainable, fair and healthy food systems.

2. Level 2 | Learning cycle. We facilitate the sharing of experience and peer-to-peer learning among cities in close collaboration with strategic allies such as the City Food Network, UNEP and RIMISP.

3. Level 3 | Influencing the international agenda. We share the evidence we gather from the field to advance the political agenda in favour of sustainable food systems and inclusive rural-urban food chains. We particularly aim to contribute to discussions on the Milan Plan for Action, the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Direct beneficiaries: 2702 reached in 2018. In 2019 we hope to reach 3010 beneficiaries.
• Increase in incomes for our direct farmer partners: 59% (2014-2017)
• Consumers that will be provided with cleaner, higher quality food: 60,000 consumers (5% of consumers in Tegucigalpa)
• Safe and quality food products supplied to markets: 7985 metric tonnes of vegetables (2018)
• Duration of the project: 2017-2021

About 800 farmers, members of 8 farmers' organizations of the Honduran Agro-commercial Consortium have improved their revenues by 59% on average (2014-2017) thanks to the strengthening of their technical, organizational and business capacities.

To date, through Rikolto’s work with its partners and allies, we have achieved:

• The installation of 4 pilot systems of hydroponic in the farms of farmers members of the Consortium.
• The improvement of their negotiating position and the diversification of their products on offer, realized through knowledge exchange programs, trainings, and Field Schools, at both Central American and international levels.
• The increase of productivity and quality, achieving a 97% compliance rate with consumer standards.
• Through the increased offering of products (40 different crops), the Agriculture Consortium has contributed to a reduction of almost 86.5% of vegetable imports to the supermarket (2011-2018), mainly of potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli.

• The sales of the Consortium increased by approximately 42% thanks to its widest range of products and a better market consistency and stability.

• Contributions to a more organized sector for potatoes, through the platform of the National Potato Committee that Rikolto promoted to all the actors in the sector; the country has a Competition Agreement Framework, which has contributed enormously to improve national production and regulate importation.

• The establishment of an Inter-Institutional Technical Committee, led by Rikolto, to work on the evaluation of Tegucigalpa’s Food System. Participants include the Honduras Agricultural Consortium, FAO, UTSAN, and the municipality.

City of Tegucigalpa

Central District Municipal Hall - The public administrative unit of the Central District, officially called Central District Municipality (M.D.C.), it is a municipality of Honduras.

Municipal Association of Honduras (AMHON)

The Municipal Association of Honduras - AMHON - is the representative civil entity of a national nature, for non-profit and apolitical purposes, with full capacity to exercise rights, contract obligations and intervene in trials, with its own assets and free administration.

Consorcio Agrocomercial de Honduras

The Honduras Agriculture Consortium represents an alliance between 8 PYMES of small producers, specifically in the fruit and vegetable sector of Honduras.

La Colonia Supermarket

In 2012, La Colonia Supermarkets were recognized as a socially responsible company for their good practices, values and ethics with which, together with each of their collaborators, it works day by day, constantly searching for the common welfare of Honduras. The supermarket chain counts 47 stores at the national level. La Colonia has also supermarkets located throughout Nicaragua.

Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School

Zamorano is an international university offering young people from diverse latitudes and origins the opportunity to become professionals— leaders— with skills and values, able to transform companies and organizations, that respond to the real challenges of Latin America and the world, challenges like: natural resource conservation, rural transformation, and the development of agricultural industries and internationally competitive agro-industry

Autonomous National University of Honduras (UNAH)

A University Center of the Autonomous National University of Honduras in the Honduran Caribbean, it is developing Higher Education of excellence in the fields of production and scientific, agroforestry and biological action.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

FUNDER

GOAL in Honduras

Banco de Alimentos Honduras

Food Bank Honduras

Interested in partnering up? Contact us!