Browse Honduras Daily Stories

Honduras's disaster agency Copeco has begun delivering food packages valued at 4,000 lempiras (about $160) each, plus medicines, to drought-stricken municipalities in Choluteca and El Paraíso, backed by a 300-million-lempira (about $12 million) budget, with cash transfers planned for up to 15 of the 75 municipalities identified as most severely affected.

The United Nations is committing $80 million to support Honduras in response to a severe drought affecting multiple regions, with funds directed to affected municipalities, early-action programs, safe-water access, and aid for small farmers.

Agriculture Minister Moisés Molina ruled out a famine despite what he called the worst drought on record hitting 75 municipalities, saying Honduras has sufficient food stocks and future grain contracts, even as local mayors report total crop losses and hundreds of cattle deaths.

The Agriculture Ministry unveiled a 10-year strategy investing $40 million annually to expand irrigation on 60,000 hectares, strengthen school meals for 300,000 children, and boost local farm production amid an El Niño drought affecting 134,000 families across 234 municipalities.

Congress will hold an emergency session on August 19 with mayors from 75 municipalities under yellow alert to address crop losses, water shortages, and food-security risks, proposing immediate aid to farmers, potable water, food assistance, and investment mechanisms.

The Agriculture Ministry projects rice production of 700,000 quintals (about 31,500 metric tons) in the near term, a 40% increase from 2025's roughly 500,000 quintals, as part of a strategy to reduce dependence on imports that currently supply over five million of the six million quintals Honduras consumes annually.

Congresswoman Alejandra Burgos, president of Congress's Food Security Commission, reports that 2.2 million Hondurans are in food insecurity due to drought, with 60,000 at critical risk requiring urgent government intervention to prevent severe malnutrition.

A labor-union leader warns that 2.5 million Hondurans lack adequate food despite reported macroeconomic growth, arguing low wages and weak job prospects drive mass migration and leave the country competing with Haiti on poverty measures.

The agricultural marketing institute reports Honduras holds 120,000 quintals (about 5,400 metric tons) of beans and 76,000 quintals (about 3,400 metric tons) of corn in strategic reserves, with new harvests expected in 20 days and a 25% discount on basic grains coming through state-run stores.

Congress will convene a food security summit on August 18 to address a severe drought affecting 75 municipalities, aiming to build long-term legal and financial solutions for the crisis.

To ease drought-driven price pressure, the government is releasing 120,000 quintals (about 5,400 metric tons) of beans from state reserves at L18 per pound (about $0.72) through Banasupro, with a 25-pound limit per person.

Christian Duarte, a former Finance Ministry official, linked budget cuts by the Asfura administration to a food crisis affecting 1.8 million Hondurans, citing reductions in agricultural programs, forestry protection, farm credit, and water infrastructure.

Honduras's Finance Ministry is releasing over 1.1 billion lempiras (about $44 million) in advance municipal transfers to 75 drought-affected towns to fund emergency food security and aid to families hit hardest by the extended dry season.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization called on Central American countries to strengthen strategic grain reserves to protect food security during the expected 2026–2027 El Niño, which forecasters say will bring reduced rainfall, more frequent droughts, and crop damage across the region.

Honduras's atmospheric authority warns that rainfall expected in August will fall short of levels needed to restore soil moisture for agricultural planting, particularly in vulnerable regions.

The US Department of Agriculture will provide $40 million over six years to strengthen Honduras's national school-feeding program, benefiting about 96,000 children in 2,000 public schools in remote areas of La Paz and Intibucá departments.

Congressman Hugo Noé Pino of the Libre party warned that the El Niño drought's damage to food production will push inflation above 5% in the second half of 2026, and called for contingency plans to protect food security in hardest-hit regions.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization warns that 150,839 agricultural households—mostly in drought-stricken regions including Santa Bárbara, Choluteca, and Lempira, plus flood-prone Cortés—will need emergency aid this year due to droughts, floods, lost crops, and livestock disease.

The agricultural marketing institute reports Honduras holds 120,000 quintals (about 5,400 metric tons) of beans in reserve and rules out imports for now, citing adequate stocks and new harvests expected within 45 days from multiple regions despite ongoing dry conditions.

Congress unanimously approved a measure requiring the emergency agency Copeco, the Agriculture Ministry, and the municipal association Amhon to report within two weeks on drought conditions affecting 75 municipalities in the Dry Corridor, where El Niño has cut rainfall by half.

Honduras is spending 62 million lempiras (roughly $2.5 million) to aid 75 municipalities hit by El Niño-driven drought, with 38 facing the highest food-security risks and receiving priority support for water, food, health care, and irrigation.

Agroindustrial leader Gustavo Flores cautioned that climate change could disrupt Honduras's agricultural output and threaten the country's food security and access to basic grains.

The government announced imports of beans from Brazil, Nicaragua, and Paraguay to prevent shortages affecting 1.7 million people facing food insecurity, but an agricultural anthropologist warns the strategy undermines local farmers and discourages domestic production.

Anthropologist Mario Ardón argues that Honduras should invest in 10–30 year agricultural policy leveraging the country's diverse microclimates and hillside farming, rather than importing beans and grains, to address food insecurity affecting roughly 1.7 million Hondurans.

The Agricultural Marketing Institute director said a legal investigation into bean supplies is nearing conclusion, with the government holding about 100,000 quintals (roughly 4,500 metric tons) in reserve to prevent shortages and expects authorization within days to proceed with sales.

A year-long drought has reduced agricultural supply and driven up prices for everyday produce, with the basic food basket rising 6.16% (about 800 lempiras / $30) since June 2025, and the food-security observatory warning that 2.8 million Hondurans could face food insecurity by year-end.

The government unveiled a multisectoral plan to combat food insecurity by 2035, coordinating 13 ministries to boost agricultural output, expand irrigation and financing, establish grain reserves, and strengthen school nutrition programs in rural areas.

Honduras's basic food basket jumped 800 lempiras (about $32) in a year, a 6.16% increase driven by higher meat and fruit costs, while drought affecting 75 municipalities threatens to push 2.8 million Hondurans into food insecurity by year's end.

Agriculture Minister Moisés Molina announced that Honduras will import 100,000 quintals (about 4,500 metric tons) of beans from Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Brazil to offset a drought-driven 40% drop in domestic production and stabilize prices for a staple of the Honduran diet.

Honduran farmers are preparing to sell approximately 600,000 quintals (about 27,000 metric tons) of red beans from the first harvest cycle, which officials say has been delayed by late rains and variable weather.