Migration to the United States from Honduras and its neighboring "northern triangle" countries — El Salvador and Guatemala — has climbed in recent years. The reasons are complex, including poverty, unemployment and violence.
But the increase in migration also coincides with the drought, which began in 2014, and those living in Central America's so-called dry corridor, which is adjacent to El Rosario, say lack of food is the primary reason people leave, according to a United Nations report.
Last summer, the Honduran government declared an emergency because of food shortages, joining governments in El Salvador and Guatemala, which issued similar alerts. Almost 100,000 families in Honduras and 2 million people across the region lacked adequate food. Making matters worse, a pathogen that scientists believe is worsened by climate change has ravaged the country's coffee plantations, which means that migrant farm laborers who count on the coffee harvest for income can't find work.
Researchers and international aid workers say that for Honduran family farmers, like those in El Rosario, to survive, they need support to adjust to the climate's rapid changes, including instruction in planting drought-resistant crops and help conserving water.
