ABSTRACT
The experiences of two agricultural development programmes, one in Guatemala and another in Honduras, indicate the potential of agroecological approaches in Central America. Each programme did a baseline survey at the time of its initiation, with annual evaluations done each year during their eight or nine years of operation, including the measurement of crop yield levels. When an evaluation was done in 1994 to assess the programmes’ impact five to fifteen years after their termination, these studies showed many sustainable improvements in basic grain yields and in other agronomic and economic indicators, as well as in such factors as educational levels, local organization and leadership abilities within the communities involved. Most important, we saw a continuous process of experimentation and innovation that changed farming systems.
