CARE has in Honduras for more than 60 years, working with vulnerable groups and reaching thousands of families. CARE’s experience in Honduras has allowed it to identify and understand the main problems caused by climate change, which are mainly manifested in rainfall and temperatures patterns, resulting in disasters such as floods and droughts. These disasters have strong economic, environmental and social impacts that hinder development processes and contribute to increasing the inequality and poverty gaps, especially for the poorest families who are usually the most vulnerable.

Given this situation, CARE has responded with the implementation of an integral development model that seeks to improve the conditions for people to fulfill their rights to: 1) Improved Access to Water Resources, 2) Food and Nutrition Security and 3) Economic Development Inclusive. The integral model is implemented under a protection framework to make communities and livelihoods more resilient as well as increase sustainability.

The actions led by CARE Honduras begin with the recognition that disasters caused by climate change greatly affect water resources, which are essential for the sustainability of livelihoods such as agriculture, fishing, livestock; as well as water’s relation with food and nutrition security, health and economic development.

The strategies for adapting to climate change and increasing resilience focus on: 

  • Community-based adaptation, which prioritizes three main blocks: 1) Community adoption of Water Smart Agriculture Practices to maintain soil moisture and increase productivity. (Green water protection); 2) The development of sustainable and scalable technologies to increase availability of and access to water in excluded communities (Blue water protection); and 3) Make a more efficient use of available water, through the promotion of ecological sanitation systems and mechanisms for the rational use of water.
  • Disaster risk management, where CARE builds local capacities for risk management, as well as the development of early warning systems against drought and food insecurity, using innovative technological systems and platforms.