Americas

Honduras

• Community-based pest management in Central American agriculture
• Développement durable et tourisme au Honduras
• Water Management in Honduras and El Salvador
• Formation en gestion des coopératives

Water Management in Honduras and El Salvador

Project purpose: The overall purpose of the project is to strengthen the capacity of Honduras and El Salvador to effectively manage their water resources in order to better protect and conserve these resources. This will be achieved through increased institutional and human resource capacity building, partnerships with the community and national policy reviews.

Key results to date: Five professors from the University of El Salvador (UES) and the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) are currently studying in a master's program in hydrogeology and water resource management either at the University of Calgary, the University of Waterloo or the University of Costa Rica. They will all return to full-time, permanent faculty positions at UES and UNAH where they will help deliver the new master's programs. The new master's in management of groundwater resources at UES was launched in September 2008 with 10 students currently enrolled, and the new master's in water resource management with emphasis in hydrogeology at UNAH will begin in February 2009. The first project short course on aqueous geochemistry and isotope hydrology was offered by UES to 25 students, including 10 from various government institutes and the private sector. A workshop was also organized to identify thesis projects for students in the municipality of San Salvador in cooperation with the municipality.

Community-based pest management in Central American agriculture

Project purpose: The purpose of the project is to improve policies and technical capacity in pesticide storage, handling and use on the part of farmers and their communities in Central America, as a way to enhance human and environmental health while increasing agricultural productivity.

Key results to date: During the first year, nine university staff and 35 representatives from academia, government, industry and non-governmental organizations participated in a certificate course on pesticide risk assessment. In addition, 13 faculty and 28 students from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras were trained in participatory qualitative methodologies for investigating community knowledge. Each student completed a 4-week research practicum within families and communities on pesticide and food storage, handling and use. On-going feedback meetings in the three countries are helping build stronger relationships between students, universities, rural participants and communities in general. They are also providing a venue for rural participants to have a voice in both technical development and policy development initiatives. At the university level, three courses have been modified to introduce new information on participatory research methods and the development of policy indicators.

Formation en gestion des coopératives

Project purpose: The primary objective was to regionalize the University of Costa Rica's master's degree program.

Key results to date: Through this project the universities of Costa Rica and Honduras established a master's program in cooperative business management; the University of El Salvador now offers four specially designed certificate programs, one of which is in cooperative management; and the University of Panama has developed a business administration degree with a specialization in cooperatives. Approximately 260 people have been trained through these programs and more than 300 people have received ad hoc training. Twenty-six case studies dealing with cooperative problems and organizations have been published. A network linking faculty at the universities of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Panama was formed and has been integrated into the network of the universities of the Americas in cooperative studies.

Développement durable et tourisme au Honduras

Project purpose: The objectives of the project are to strengthen specialized training profiles in sustainable local development and tourism at the Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (UNITEC), at the undergraduate (Licenciatura) and graduate (diploma) levels and to develop a specialized resources base and services that will meet the needs of local poor communities.

Key results to date: The project helped establish the Local Development and Tourism Centre at the Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (UNITEC). The training of a nucleus of human resources at the Centre is coming to an end. To date, 65 students have completed their training as part of the joint undergraduate program between UNITEC and the Honduras Association of Municipalities. The students collected data from selected communities and produced 12 monographs on local communities. In total, 37 students received degrees in the new master's program on local development and tourism in 2007 and a second cohort of 48 students began their courses. The Centre provided two types of training to Aboriginal communities, one on developing and managing projects and the other on local development. Computer facilities make it possible to offer distance training and coaching in the communities. The partners held a symposium at UNITEC on tourism and local development in November 2007.