By PAUL CONSTANCE

The program aims to restore the food-production capabilities of local communities that were devastated by Hurricane Mitch last October. It will seek to replenish critical seed stocks that were lost during the hurricane and teach environmentally appropriate farming techniques that can both increase food production and reduce farmers' vulnerability to future natural disasters.

Experts estimate that Hurricane Mitch destroyed 70 percent of the basic food crops in Honduras and Nicaragua. Maize and beans, the two most important food crops in both countries, suffered huge losses, as did other crops, including potatoes and plantains. The storm carried away untold quantities of topsoil, leaving many farmers' plots barren, and it silted up rivers and streams crucial for irrigation and hydroelectric energy generation. Moreover, the storm wiped out about 80 percent of the two countries' commercial export crops (such as bananas, coffee and tobacco), destroying a crucial source of employment and income in poor agricultural regions.

Threat of migration. While much of the commercial agriculture sector will be able to obtain private financing to rebuild its productive capacity, subsistence farmers lack the resources to replenish seed supplies and buy fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. "Without rapid action to restore food production, Nicaragua and Honduras will face not only serious nutrition and health problems, but severe economic and social problems whose effects will be felt throughout the region," said Grant Scobie, director general of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia. Deprived of their livelihoods, thousands of subsistence farmers could be forced to migrate to nearby cities or countries, he added.

In addition to CIAT, the Seeds of Hope project includes scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru, and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) in Italy. Financing is being provided by usaid and the Canadian International Development Agency.

The project's first priority is to address a pressing shortage of seeds for basic food crops that are adapted to conditions in Honduras and Nicaragua, since most seed stocks were destroyed during the hurricane. In January, CIAT and CIMMYT scientists identified and procured "foundation seeds" and arranged for them to be planted at selected locations in the two countries. This crop will not be harvested for food. Instead, it will be used to produce larger quantities of seeds for distribution to subsistence farmers this spring. Scientists hope that these seeds will supply most of Honduras' maize needs and about 33 percent of Nicaragua's.

Hardier crops. With a view to reducing farmers' dependence on expensive pesticides, the project is also working to encourage the adoption of hybrid crop varieties developed at CIMMYT and CIP that are naturally resistant to diseases, pests and other problems. These efforts include a campaign to reintroduce the sweet potato, which originated in what is now Nicaragua but is no longer grown there. Working with government and community organizations, CIAT scientists will teach farmers to "interplant" sweet potatoes and corn in a single field, a practice that has proven successful in reducing soil erosion in China. Growing underground, sweet potatoes hold the soil in place, require little fertilizer, and are an excellent source of vitamin A. In Honduras, CIP scientists will help replace sweet potato varieties that were lost during the hurricane using an innovative seed technology.

White potatoes are typically grown from other whole potatoes, not seeds. But transporting potatoes, which are bulky, perishable, and expensive, is difficult in countries with poor transport infrastructure. In response, scientists at CIP have developed a so-called "true potato seed" that costs only $20-$30 per planted hectare, as compared to around $1,500 per hectare planted with whole potatoes. Farmers in Honduras had begun to plant the potato seeds last year, before the hurricane. Now, the Seeds of Hope project will work to distribute new seed and training materials throughout Honduras.

The project also will help develop indicators to determine which areas are at greatest risk of further degradation. Project scientists will then help people in those areas to adopt modern agricultural techniques that improve land management and crop yields. "This is the only way to prevent similar catastrophic results from recurring," said CIAT's Scobie. "One reason natural disasters are so devastating to developing countries is that poverty and poor land management put pressure on the land. Already, we're finding that in areas where the farmers in Nicaragua and Honduras were properly managing the land before the hurricane, the damage is less severe."

For more information on the project, contact Future Harvest at (202) 473-4734.