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Subsistence Agriculture and Resource Management in Guajiquiro Municipio, Honduras

Subsistence Agriculture and Resource Management in Guajiquiro Municipio, Honduras. The Lenca were the largest pre-Columbian indigenous group in what became Honduras. This map shows their distribution in 1780. They remain a people of the highlands.

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Subsistence Agriculture and Resource Management in Guajiquiro Municipio, Honduras

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  1. Subsistence Agriculture and Resource Management in Guajiquiro Municipio, Honduras

  2. The Lenca were the largest pre-Columbian indigenous group in what became Honduras. This map shows their distribution in 1780. They remain a people of the highlands.

  3. Here are some Lenca at the Sunday Guajiquiro market.

  4. As you read in the article. Guajiquiro Municipio includes a cloud forest protected area, “area protegida”.

  5. Physical Geography • Tropical highlands Tierra fresca (>1700m) Cloud forest: Broadleaf Tierra calida (<1700m) Tropical dry forest: pine, oak, savanna Tropical wet/dry climate: Invierno = May-October wet season Verano = November-April dry season • Old, highly weathered volcanic soils • Steep slopes

  6. I took this pic from Tierra Calida, looking north into the moister highlands of Tierra Fresca.

  7. Tierra fresca: Cloud forest

  8. We get credit for this? Tierra fresca: Cloud forest

  9. Tierra calida: scrubby pine forest

  10. Tierra calida

  11. Tierra calida: Pine and savanna

  12. Traditional Resource Use: Soil, Water, Vegetation • Communal management: Municipio, Ejido • Settlements • Pueblo and aldeas • Agropastoralism • Agriculture • Swidden agriculture: maize, beans, squash • Bosque, milpa, guamil • Animal Husbandry • Transhumance: Verano = Tierra fresca Invierno = Tierra calida • Forest Use • Aserrio manual • Houses • Bajareque • Adobe • Bloque

  13. Guajiquiro Pueblo

  14. The people of Guajiquiro live embedded in their most important resources: soil and forest.

  15. San Marcos aldea

  16. Guajiquirito caserio

  17. Traditional Resource Use: Soil, Water, Vegetation • Communal management: Municipio, Ejido • Settlements • Pueblo and aldeas • Agropastoralism • Agriculture • Swidden agriculture:maize, beans, squash • Bosque, milpa, guamil • Animal Husbandry • Transhumance: Verano = Tierra fresca Invierno = Tierra calida • Forest Use • Aserrio manual • Houses • Bajareque • Adobe • Bloque

  18. Typical Lenca milpa. Maize Frijoles

  19. ? ? ?

  20. Maize Coffee Frijoles

  21. Cow Moo! Moo! The Lenca also practice animal husbandry, but with small herds of cattle.

  22. June 1998 January 2003 Bosque Guamil Milpa

  23. 19541982 Guamil Milpa Bosque The Lenca’s swidden or slash/burn agriculture is evident in aerial photographs.

  24. Activities of Verano

  25. Verano begins after the harvest of the milpas. During the 5-6 dry months, the Lenca undertake constructions projects, such as harvesting soil for making adobes for houses.

  26. These adobes are free. The only cost is the labor, which is not easy.

  27. Fine adobe house, constructed from local soil, clay and timber.

  28. The inside of an adobe house where my students and I stayed for 3 weeks. We didn’t only play cards.

  29. The bajareque is another common house-type made from local resources, which include timber, stones, clay and soil.

  30. Bajareque house with guachiplin corner posts. Though curvy, the Lenca favor the guachiplin because of its durability.

  31. Lenca convenience store…bajareque.

  32. The inside of a bajareque. This maize was ground up for delicious corn tortillas.

  33. A Lenca man teaches his two boys how to make roof tiles from local clay deposits. Children work a lot in Guajiquiro.

  34. Typical oven in a Lenca house. Women cook over open fires, which makes for a smoky situation that can cause eye and respiratory problems.

  35. Vasectomy? Might be a good idea where population growth is overtaxing the Lenca’s land resources.

  36. One strategy to improve agricultural production during a time of population increase, is to put land in permanent production. This milpa is planted in contour rows to reduce erosion.

  37. Irrigation allows a farmer to grow potatoes during verano.

  38. The introduction of apple production was intended to extend the production of land in Guajiquiro. Unfortunately, Washington Apples is a main competitor.

  39. Washington Apples plans to continue to export apples to Honduras, thus making life difficult for Guajiquiro’s apple farmers.

  40. Guajiquiro farmers are also experimenting with coffee production. Both apples and coffee represent a major shift in the municipio, which previously farmed for subsistence not for export markets.

  41. Guajiquiro’s basketball court. An “airball” on the south goal means a long hike down hill.

  42. Lenca who traveled upslope for the Sunday market.

  43. Public transport in Guajiquiro. Possibly your old school bus.

  44. Timber harvest in Guajiquiro. No chainsaws allowed. Instead, axes and crosscut saws are the main tools.

  45. Typcal timber cut in Guajiquiro. The pic on the right is an aserrio manual, a manual sawmill.

  46. Aserrio manual and boards for sale. According to municipio laws, timber products can’t be exported from Guajiquio. This law and the law that restricts the use of chainsaws has protected Guajiquiro’s forests.

  47. Typical forest in transition after logging. Clear cutting is not practiced.

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