Poor households in Stress (IPC Phase 2) as the lean season starts

On March 27, a total of 68 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Honduras, 2 in Nicaragua, and 13 in El Salvador. In Nicaragua, no measures have been put in place to date that restrict population movement. However, in Honduras and El Salvador, the governments have implemented measures including the suspension of urban and rural transportation and total or partial curfew. Current information suggests that to mitigate the possible negative effects of these measures on the economy, the governments of Honduras and El Salvador are working on the implementation of food aid programs or aiming to establish price control measures, though specifics on these programs are not yet available. Also of concern across Central America is the potential decrease in income from remittances, given some poor households’ reliance on this as a sources of income rely on activities generated by this (such as construction) and the global economic decline that threatens incomes’ sources of family members working abroad.

In February, the harvests (Primera/Postrera) of grains, together with imports, have allowed maintaining the supply of maize and beans in the markets across the region; maize and bean prices in the capitals of the three countries have followed seasonal trends, maize remaining above average, while beans continue below average.

During the first quarter of 2020, rainfall in the production areas of the Atlantic remained close to the average, allowing the development of Apante crops in areas fit for cultivation, hoping to obtain average yields in the harvest that begins this month.

Thanks to the income received during the coffee harvest that has recently ended (February - March), vulnerable population has been able to reach basic food needs for the upcoming two months during which employment in agricultural activities will start at the beginning of the rainy season. This situation contributes to classify countries in Stressed (IPC Phase 2); however, in the most vulnerable communities in southern Honduras, northern central Nicaragua, eastern and western El Salvador, the deterioration of livelihoods resulting from recurrence of droughts, leads to Crisis (IPC Phase 3) food insecurity.