Measuring Farmers' Agroecological Resistance to Hurricane...

In October of 1998, Hurricane Mitch, one of the Caribbean�s five most powerful hurricanes of the twentieth century, slammed into Central America causing US$ 6.7 billion dollars in damage to infrastructure and industry (primarily agriculture)� an amount approximately equal to 13.3% of Central America�s GNP. Mudslides and landslides washed away crops, animals, buildings, roads and bridges. Topsoil, lost from hillside farms, silted rivers that overflowed their banks, flooding fields and urban areas. Over 10,000 people died and 3 million were displaced or left homeless. The environmental damages were incalculable. Countries hardest hit were Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Most observers agree the unprecedented magnitude of the disaster is the consequence of decades of deforestation, non-sustainable agricultural practices and other forms of environmental degradation that left the region exceptionally vulnerable to an erosive event.

While first reports regarding agricultural damage simply indicated that the levels of destruction were massive, subsequent on-site observations began to reveal a more subtle, differentiated pattern. Farms using what are commonly understood to be �sustainable� practices appeared to have suffered less damage than their �conventional� neighbors. These farms belonged to smallholders working within a multi-institutional, regional movement for sustainable agriculture known in Central America as Campesino a Campesino (Farmer to Farmer). The farming practices commonly encountered in Campesino a Campesino included a wide range of soil conservation and sustainable cultivation methods, tested and promoted by smallholders for nearly thirty years. Some of the most common sustainable practices included soil and water conservation methods, reduced or discontinued use of chemical inputs, cover crops, agroforestry, intensive, in-row tillage, organic fertilizer and pesticides, and different forms of Integrated Pest Management.

In general, these sustainable farms exist as islands and archipelagos within a greater, conventional �sea.� Therefore, while often localized and geographically fragmented, they provided an excellent opportunity to compare agroecological resistance to the hurricane of sustainable and conventional farms. The presence of Campesino a Campesino, made up of farmers and technicians experienced in farm experimentation and farmer to farmer training, also provided the opportunity to carry out an extensive, participatory, action research project in the low, medium and high impact areas of Hurricane Mitch. Several researchers with years of experience working in the Campesino a Campesino Movement designed a study and wrote a proposal. World Neighbors, an NGO working in the region, agreed to sponsor the project, helped to find funding (Ford, Summit, Rockefeller and Inter-American Foundations), and provided administrative support.

http://www.agroecology.org/people/eric/resist/synopsis.htm