NORTH-SOUTH CENTRE - ETH - North-South Centre North-South ...

Understanding the views of poor
households in rural municipalities
In Honduras, about half of the population live and work
in rural areas dominated by steep hills and mountains. In
these areas smallholder farming predominates, mostly on
subsistence levels. Access to services and economic opportunities
other than agriculture is low, and the poverty rate
is very high at 77%. In 2001, Honduras introduced an ambitious
poverty reduction strategy (PRS) in order to fight
poverty and to receive debt relief. The strategy includes
measures such as a general increase in social expenditure,
the set-up of a decentralised poverty reduction fund for
local projects, or programmes such as access to agricultural
land or reactivation of the rural economy. However, neither
in rural nor in urban areas did the poverty rates decrease
significantly between 2001 and 2008.
This project aims at analysing the PRS, its implementation
and its benefits for poor and marginalised households
in view of future development strategies. I am comparing
the livelihood situation of rural poor with the PRS process
in two municipalities. In late 2008 and beginning of 2009,
I selected two municipalities in Western Honduras. First, a
landscape and history mapping of each municipality was
carried out and complemented with a brief, random sample
household survey in each location. Based on these findings,
I will select the sample for the life history interviews.
In June and July 2009, qualitative interviews with local politicians
and members of community development councils
were conducted. These interviews focused on the development
processes and especially the implementation of
PRS- related policies at the local level. The preliminary results
indicate differences between the two study locations
with regard to the political space that is open to poor and
marginalised households for influencing PRS project formulation
and implementation. While in one municipality
PRS projects are prioritised in a participatory process, in the
other study location the local political elite decides on how
these funds are spent. However, at this stage no conclusion
can be drawn on whether poor households can effectively
integrate their needs into the PRS process in either one
of the municipalities. I cannot yet say whether they feel
represented by the elite and finally, whether the PRS projects
satisfy their needs. These questions will be tackled during
the next field stay. I will then explore the livelihood situation
and strategies of the local poor, as well as their views on
the PRS process and results at the local level using qualitative
life history interviews.
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Research fellow
Sandra Contzen,
University of Zurich and SHL, Switzerland
Supervisors
Ulrike Müller-Böker and Urs Geiser,
University of Zurich, Switzerland;
Urs Scheidegger, SHL, Switzerland
Capacity development
Research fellowships
Collaborators
Maria Eugenia Baltodano, CIAT, Nicaragua;
Arie Sanders, University Zamorano, Honduras;
Andrea Flück and Rudi von Planta, SDC, Honduras
Duration
June 2008 – May 2011
Group discussion with members of a community
development council, Coalaca, Honduras