"This crisis is real, it is serious, and it is now," said Marco Caceres of projecthonduras.com. "At least a dozen of Honduras' 18 departments have lost an average of nearly 80% of their crops due to a prolonged drought, and the country could be facing its biggest natural disaster since Hurricane Mitch in 1998." The Government of Honduras has declared a food emergency in 104 of the country's 298 municipalities.

The United Nations World Food Program estimates that more than 266,000 people in Honduras are being severely affected by food shortages and that it has enough resources to feed only about one-third of these through the third week in August.

"In a nutshell, this means that, unless governments, organizations, companies, and individuals start to donate money and (or) food supplies, lots of Honduran families are not going to be eating any time soon," said Caceres. "Keep in mind that the food shortages haven't even begun to peak .... that will happen in September and October when crops are usually harvested."

Assessments by the US Agency for International Development and other government agencies are underway to determine how much assistance to provide. The risk, however, is that these studies may take longer than tens of thousands of Hondurans can afford to wait.

"The key here is to anticipate the worst case scenario in Honduras and prevent a hunger emergency from turning into a famine," said Caceres. "That's where private citizens can play a crucial role," he noted. "People can make a decision immediately to get involved to help in anyway they can, either through donations or by contacting the media and their government representatives to give exposure and urgency to the crisis."

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projecthonduras.com is an online portal for information and contacts on Honduras. For information, e-mail hondo@post.com or visit http://www.projecthonduras.com.