UN Famine Warnings for Honduras Materializing

The drought in southern Honduras is now entering its seventh month. It has not rained in large swaths of the country since August 2009. The departments of Choluteca, Francisco Morazán, Intibucá, La Paz, Lempira, El Paraíso, and Valle have been the most affected by the lack of rainfall. Honduras' National Meteorological Office is not forecasting rain in the region until the end of April or perhaps not until June. Dozens of municipalities in Honduras have been reporting widespread hunger since December, and in January the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that more than 100,000 people in Honduras could be at risk for famine within the next few months if severe drought conditions continued and if international aid organizations and Honduras' government and society did not mobilize to meet the emergency food and water needs of people in nearly 200 municipalities.

Some of the most desperate municipalities at the moment include Apacilagua, Choluteca, Duyure, Morolica, Orocuina, Pespire, San Isidro, San José, and San Marcos de Colón, where there live an estimated 24,304 families who are in urgent need of food and water. In the department of El Paraíso alone there are an estimated 4,787 families desperately in search of food and water in the municipalities of Liure, Oropolí, San Antonio de Flores, San Lucas, Soledad, Vado Ancho, Yauyupe, and Yuscarán. (3/10/10) (photo courtesy Internet)