wfn.org | El Salvador - Struggling to Cope Following Poor Harvest

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

FEATURE
Drought Threatens Crops in Central America

SAN VICENTE, El Salvador/GENEVA, 22 April 2002 (LWI) - In the
sweltering mid-morning heat, community residents gather in a
backyard waiting to discuss future development projects for the
village. Three men and a woman accompanied this writer to the
nearest sugar cane field, so that he could interview some of the
men harvesting the crop.

After the poor maize and bean harvest last September, many
residents of Antiguo Tepetitan in El Salvador's central department
of San Vicente, have no other option but to work as laborers in
sugar cane fields. The dry season has already set in. The soil has
no humidity and most people cannot afford an irrigation system.
With no rain expected before the end of April, family food
security remains a challenge.

Each year, Jose Sabala, a community elder defies this reality. "We
rent two tareas of land (one twentieth of a hectare) to plant
maize and beans," says Sabala, who invests USD 68 every season.
The harvest is barely enough to feed his seven-member family for
12 months. As a sugarcane laborer he earns USD 4 a day. His
13-year-old son lends a hand after attending school to earn extra
money. "We are aware that what we get is very little, so we know
we can only afford very little."

"What about clothing, medicine and your children's school
expenses?" Sabala is asked.

"We buy our clothes, medicine and books from the little money
earned on the sugar cane fields and from other odd jobs," says the
middle-aged man, seemingly struggling to cope with both heat and
poverty.

Some peasants have a little more luck than Sabala and rent small
land parcels during the dry season on which they plant tomatoes,
green peppers and other vegetables using irrigation technology. "I
can't afford it," he replies.

Sabala's situation could become even worse. According to the
Salvadoran Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock forecast office,
the tropical phenomenon El Nino will affect the Central American
region prolonging the dry season and causing a severe drought.
This will endanger food security for thousands of poor families.

The United Nations World Food Program predicts that 700,000
Central Americans could face a famine if their countries do not
get enough rain. Experts have little hope of stemming this
phenomenon of which the magnitude is still unknown.

El Nino is expected to begin in April through September,
jeopardizing the entire crop. Local authorities have alerted
farmers to wait before they embark on any sowing.

Last year El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua were
affected by a two-month drought, which left a dozen people dead
and thousands suffering from hunger. In El Salvador, 120,000 tons
of cereals worth USD 19.5 million were lost.

In spite of this reality, Antiguo Tepetitan residents are far from
giving up on their struggle. Ana Claribel Elias, president of the
local board, believes that most families in the village are ready
to work in any community development initiative.

"We are prepared to face this situation and improve our living
condition," she says. Sixty two families in the village have
participated in previous projects sponsored by the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS) program in El
Salvador, and Action by Churches Together (ACT) International,
which assisted residents after two violent earthquakes hit El
Salvador early last year. In response, community members
implemented improvements. The LWF is a founding member of ACT, a
global alliance of churches and related agencies assisting
thousands of people recovering from emergencies worldwide.

LWF/DWS El Salvador, a local ACT implementing partner, is
currently preparing emergency actions which include orienting
families in their basic grain production. Although Antiguo
Tepetitan residents realize that El Nino could take away the
little they have, they are determined to cope with the challenge.

(By Raul Gutierrez, communications officer,
LWF El Salvador/Guatemala Program.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 133 member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5
million of the 64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted,
material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the
LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

*       *       *
LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
PO Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Editor's e-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
Tel: (41.22) 791.63.54
Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30
http://www.lutheranworld.org/