Project profile — Rural Opportunities in the Gulf of Fonseca in Honduras

• Honduras (100.00%)

• Secondary Education: Vocational training (11330) (25.00%)
• Business And Other Services: Business support services and institutions (25010) (50.00%)
• Agriculture: Agricultural education/training (31181) (25.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (significant objective)
• Desertification (not targeted)

The project aims to improve the economic well-being of small-scale entrepreneurs and producers, especially women, youth and marginalized people living in poverty, in the Dry Corridor of Honduras. It works to strengthen the business competencies of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and to enhance their ability to profit from markets. The project also fosters a local economic environment contributing to the success of MSMEs in the best way to achieve short-term results while building long-term sustainability. The project engages both agricultural and non-agricultural enterprises, directing 70% of the investment towards those owned by or mainly employing women, youth and other poor and marginalized groups. Project activities include: (1) providing training and technical assistance on business and organizational skills to MSMEs, producers and their organizations;(2) linking MSMEs to financial services;(3) enhancing access to local, national and export markets;(4) increasing the ability of business development services for MSMEs; and (5) strengthening the ability of institutions to implement local economic development plans and sharing of lessons learned. The initiative covers 33 municipalities; it is expected to reach 7,000 households comprising 36,000 people, 70% of them women and/or youth. The project is implemented in partnership with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and McGill University. It also engages a full range of Honduran stakeholders in government, the private sector, academia and civil society at the community, department and national levels.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved business, technical and financial practices of small-scale enterprises, especially those led by or mainly employing women, youth and/or marginalized people; and (2) increased productivity and sales by small-scale enterprises, especially those led by or mainly employing women, youth and/or marginalized people living in poverty.

The results achieved as of December 2022 include: (1) 3,205 producers, entrepreneurs and trained people observed an improvement in their economic well-being; (2) Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) reported 74% increase in their annual net incomes, 60% increase in sales and 36% increase in productivity due to the adoption of practices promoted; (3) producers reported a 38% increase in their annual net incomes, 40% increase in sales and 23% increase in productivity attributed to practices supported by the project; (4) 2,789 producers and MSMEs (1,401 women) took part in training sessions on good business practices; (5) 1,420 entrepreneurs (998 women) received technical assistance for the establishment of businesses; (6) 3,468 young people (1,990 women) completed a vocational education program to acquire a decent employment and 2,472 employees (1,078 women) trained in key competencies for better performance and remuneration; (7) provided 2,940 producers (1,329 women) actively participated in the Farmer Field Schools to learn about climate-smart agricultural practices; (8) 2,710 producers received agricultural seeds and inputs to grow corn and beans in response to the risk of food insecurity crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic; (9) 7,072 MSMEs, entrepreneurs, producers, employees and youth (3,982 women) participated in the Financial Education Program; and (10) trained 116 public and private actors (86 women) supporting the Local Economic Development (LED) in gender equality, LED management and women's economic empowerment.

• Proactive disclosure