PCM-05-2023

This decree extends Honduras's food emergency status for 2023, allowing the National Agricultural Development Bank (BANADESA) to provide direct loans to agricultural producers without lengthy procedures, with internal audits ensuring transparency. It benefits families in extreme poverty and small farmers who need financing to produce food.

That the Constitution of the Republic establishes that the President of the Republic exercises the executive power in representation and for the benefit of the people, corresponding to her to direct the General Policy of the State and represent it, as well as to issue agreements and decrees in accordance with law, to adopt measures for the promotion, prevention, recovery and rehabilitation of the health of the inhabitants (articles 235 and 245, numerals 2, 11 and 29).

That according to what is established in the Constitution of the Republic, the human person is the supreme purpose of society and the State, and everyone has the obligation to respect and protect it (article 59).

That the General Law of Public Administration provides that the President of the Republic is in charge of the supreme direction and coordination of the Centralized and Decentralized Public Administration and in the exercise of her functions, she may act by herself or in Council of Ministers (article 11).

That in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic, the President convenes and presides over the Council of Ministers, which shall meet to make a resolution on all matters that she deems of national importance (article 252, second paragraph).

That in accordance with the State Contracting Law, the declaration of a state of emergency shall be made by Decree of the President of the Republic in Council of Ministers. Likewise, said law establishes that direct contracting may be carried out when its object is to provide for the needs occasioned by an emergency situation under the provisions established in article 9 (articles 9 and 63, numeral 1).

That in accordance with the provisions of Article 347 of the Constitution of the Republic, agricultural production should be oriented preferentially toward satisfying the food needs of the Honduran population, within a policy of adequate supply and fair prices for both the producer and the consumer.

That the National Bank for Agricultural Development (BANADESA) is a fundamental pillar for the development of the agricultural sector and financial support for the country's MSMEs, essential activities for the production, processing and storage of products necessary for the basic basket and closely linked to guaranteeing food sovereignty, representing an instrument to ensure equity in access to credit for key productive sectors related to quality of life, job generation and the reduction of forced migration flows.

That through Executive Decree number PCM 04-2022 the agricultural sector was declared a national priority and matter of public interest. The Executive Branch and other related sectors must coordinate their efforts for the implementation of efficient and effective actions for the strengthening of said sector, in order to guarantee food and nutritional security for families in conditions of poverty and extreme poverty.

That according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in 2021, at the national level 53 out of every 100 households find themselves in a situation of extreme poverty, that is, their incomes fall below the cost of the basic food basket. In this context, there is a greater concentration of extreme poverty in rural areas.

That currently there is a global economic crisis resulting from climate conditions and limited access to inputs for production, to which are added the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has caused upheaval in international financial markets and has dramatically increased uncertainty about the recovery of the global economy.

That the public treasury was devastated in the previous administration and during recent years provisions were issued that affected the operability of BANADESA and its finances, as a result of which the bank continues to present a critical unfavorable position in financial indicators, as a consequence of capital deficiency and the lack of implementation of strategic plans, which prevents the provision of services to a fundamental sector of the economy.

That as a product of poor administration, the failure to comply with the processes of control and monitoring of its operations and a failed intervention process, BANADESA finds itself in a serious institutional situation. For the foregoing, given the urgent need to carry out the financial and administrative reactivation of BANADESA and in order to guarantee food and nutritional security for families in conditions of poverty and extreme poverty, the STATE OF FOOD EMERGENCY was declared throughout the national territory for the year 2022, by means of Executive Decree number PCM 10-2022, published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" on May 3, 2022, in its edition 35,913.

That the conditions that motivated said Declaration of STATE OF FOOD EMERGENCY remain in force, for which reason it is necessary, to guarantee food and nutritional security for families in conditions of poverty and extreme poverty, to extend said Declaration for the year 2023.